


Mentis: A Trainer's Odd Journey

by zavegonzo



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Body Swap, Canon-Typical Violence, Crystals, Cults, I'm not sure how 'graphic' it is but there IS some blood, Non-Graphic Violence, Non-consensual mind control, OK To Comment, Pokemon Battles, Pokemon Journey, Weirdness, Yes there is both Non-Graphic Violence and Graphic Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2020-05-13 09:14:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19248202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zavegonzo/pseuds/zavegonzo
Summary: Ivory Kuroi has aspired to be a Pokémon Trainer all their life. Now, after getting their Trainer Card, they're going on a journey unlike any other.





	1. Shining Crystal

**Author's Note:**

> This fic takes place in a world that is mostly based on the games, with two big exceptions:  
> Pokemon can learn more than four moves.  
> There aren't levels or experience points. (Pokemon can still evolve, though.)  
> There are also some other small differences that aren't really worth noting.

The morning sun rose over Kanto.

Pidgey were singing from treetops across the region. Rattata were scampering through the tall grass.

In a bedroom in a house in Viridian City, an alarm clock went off. It beeped noisily.

Quickly, a hand reached for the clock and turned off the alarm.

A person slowly sat up in their bed. They yawned and stretched, blinking sleep out of their eyes.

They stepped off of the bed and looked at the calendar on the wall.

They scanned it robotically for a minute before pausing.

 _‘That’s right!’_ they thought. _‘How could I forget?!’_

Yesterday, they had finally gone through the process to get their Pokémon Trainer Card, and today…

Today was the day they would begin their journey to become Champion.

Turning around, they spotted a large courier bag lain by the foot of their bed. They had spent all night packing it.

They checked through the densely packed contents, making sure everything was there.

Poké Balls… Check.

Pokédex (HANDY909 model)… Check.

Badge case… Check.

5 Potions… Check.

2 bags of trail mix… Check.

2 bags of Tauros jerky… Check.

Tent… Check.

Notepad and pencil… Check.

Changes of clothes…  Check.

Spare underwear… Check.

 _‘Hm, maybe I should keep the Pokédex in my pocket…’_ they thought.

They took the Pokédex out of the bag and went to put it in their pocket, when they remembered something else.

They weren’t wearing any pants.

They stood in place for a second.

_‘…I should get dressed.’_

Quickly, they got some clothes out of the bag, put them on, and shoved the Pokédex into their left pocket.

They took a look at the mirror.

They were wearing a red jacket with a white interior, a pastel yellow undershirt, blue pants secured by a Poké Ball-carrying belt with a novelty Poké Ball-shaped buckle, and knee-high yellow boots.

They looked at their outfit. Something seemed missing…

With a slight frown, they dug through the bag, searching for something to add, when they found it.

A dark gray wool beanie and a pair of black leather gloves.

 _‘Perfect,’_ they thought, putting on the items.

They looked in the mirror and struck a pose.

This… This was their outfit!

Satisfied, they zipped up the bag and hoisted it over their shoulder.

 _‘Ah, and before I forget…’_ They walked over to their bedside table, picked up a Poké Ball and wallet, and clipped the Poké Ball to their belt.

They turned and opened the bedroom door, walking out into a hall. They went down the hall and down a small flight of stairs into the living room.

There was a note on the table.

They stepped over and looked at it. It read,

“Ivory, I’m sorry I can’t be here in person to see you start your journey. You’ve grown up so fast. Good luck on your journey and be safe. I love you!!! —Mom”

They smiled somberly. _‘It’s a shame her work doesn’t give her enough vacation days for her to say goodbye to me in person. She works such long hours, too… 12 hours a day, every day…’_

They grabbed a pen from the table and wrote below the message, “I love you too. —Ivory”

Ivory walked toward the door. As they grabbed the doorknob, they got a weird feeling in their torso, like their guts were twisting up in knots.

Ivory stepped out and closed the door. They took a deep breath and wiped their eyes, looking at the bright Viridian City.

This would be the last time they would see it for a while.

They walked north up the streets of Viridian City, thinking about their plan for about the millionth time. The Viridian City Gym was infamously tough. Even the team that would be used against a beginning Trainer with no badges was ruthless, so Ivory would save it for last.

Ivory planned on going to Pewter City to try the Gym there. They knew that there they would stand a chance. The team used against beginners there was ridiculously easy. Ivory heard that once, a novice kid who only had a Pikachu beat it! Plus, they knew that the starter they picked had a good type matchup against the Gym’s signature Rock and Ground types. After Pewter, they would keep on going through Kanto in a clockwise pattern until they arrived back at Viridian, and then they would challenge the Elite Four and the Champion.

They got so caught up in recalling their plan that before they knew it, they had arrived at the end of Viridian City and the start of Route 2.

The breeze gently shook the trees. The smell of grass wafted through Ivory’s nose. It was calming.

Stepping onto Route 2, they breathed, “This is happening.”

Ivory started walking up Route 2, looking around at the wilderness. Tall grass was at their right and thick trees to their left, forming a linear path through the route.

Quickly, Ivory ran into their first obstacle:

Tall grass in front of them, with no way around.

Everyone with half a brain knew that wild Pokémon lurked in tall grass. Ivory wasn’t afraid of being attacked, since they had gone through all of the trouble to get a standard-issued starter, but it was a bit concerning to really see an unavoidable patch of tall grass right in front of them for what was honestly the first time.

Ivory stood there for a few seconds, unwilling to step into the tall grass.

They knew they would probably get in a battle with a wild Pokémon, and they had a chance of losing that battle. That would be humiliating, losing their very first battle to a wild Pokémon on Route _2._

But then again, if they didn’t proceed and risk battling, they wouldn’t even get to Pewter City.

Speaking of battling, Ivory realized they still had yet to actually take their starter out of its Poké Ball.

They reached down to their belt and picked up the Poké Ball attached to it. They held it in their hand for a moment.

“Come out,” they said, and they sent out the Pokémon inside.

With a flash of light, a male Bulbasaur appeared from the Ball. He inspected his environment, smelling the grass, looking at the trees, before turning around to face his Trainer.

Ivory smiled slightly, hooking the Poké Ball back to their belt. They had already decided on a name. “Hi, Tanesuke. I’m Ivory.”

“Rawr?” Tanesuke vocalized.

Ivory unzipped their bag and sifted through it for a moment. They took out a bag of trail mix.

They opened the bag and a nutty smell wafted out. Tanesuke sniffed, and his gaze fixed onto the bag.

He stepped closer to Ivory, looking at them with an adorable, pleading look on his face.

Ivory grinned and grabbed a handful of trail mix. They held their hand out at Tanesuke.

“You want some?”

Tanesuke made a happy sound and eagerly scarfed up the trail mix from Ivory’s hand.

He smiled at Ivory and made a pleased chirp.

Ivory smiled back, took off a glove and rubbed the back of Tanesuke’s head. Tanesuke leaned into Ivory’s rubs, making soft growls.

_‘Looks like he likes me already…’_

Ivory sighed. They looked back at the tall grass. Then they looked at Tanesuke’s Poké Ball hooked to their belt.

_‘I oughta get going.’_

They put their free hand on the ball.

Biting their lip, they paused.

They looked at Tanesuke, who was still calmly enjoying them rubbing his head.

_‘We. We oughta get going.’_

Ivory stood up. “Let’s go,” they said as they started walking to the tall grass.

Tanesuke made a disappointed growl, but calmly followed Ivory into the tall grass.

As the two treaded into the grass, it started shuffling. They had probably woken up some wild Pokémon.

 _‘I should tread carefully…’_   Ivory thought, slowing their pace. They carefully walked through the grass, barely lifting their feet, sliding them forward, then quickly planting them back on the ground. Tanesuke followed close behind.

Ivory’s foot hit something fleshy.

_‘Oh crap.’_

“SQUAWK!” a Pidgey squawked, clearly angry at being kicked. It flew out from the tall grass and faced Ivory.

“Oh _crap_!”

The Pidgey charged into Ivory’s chest. Ivory went crashing down to the grass.

“Agh…!” Ivory sat up, putting a hand against their chest.

“Ragh!” an angry growl came from behind.

Tanesuke ran in front of Ivory, glaring at the Pidgey.

The Pidgey chirped angrily.

Ivory swiftly stepped onto their feet. “Tanesuke! Tackle!” they ordered.

Tanesuke growled loudly and tackled the Pidgey out of mid-air. It crashed onto the ground, dazed for a moment.

“Nice job, Tanesuke!” Ivory said, standing up and pulling an empty Poké Ball from their bag.

They pitched the Poké Ball at the Pidgey and hit it perfectly, sucking it up in a beam of light.

Ivory stared at the Poké Ball with bated breath.

It wobbled once…

It wobbled twice…

Ivory bit their lip.

The Poké Ball stopped moving for a moment…

… _click!_

“YES!” Ivory shouted, picking up the Poké Ball and holding it triumphantly in the air. “I caught a Pokémon!”

They grinned from ear to ear, giddily hooking the Poké Ball onto their belt.

“Let’s see…” They pulled out their Pokédex. “What’ll I name you?”

Ivory blinked. “I’ve never really been good at naming stuff…” they admitted. Though to someone who didn’t speak their language, a name like “Tanesuke” wouldn’t seem unoriginal, in their language, it basically meant “Seedboy.”

“How about, uh…” They turned ideas around in their head for a few seconds.

_‘Uta? No, that’s just “song”… and Pidgey aren’t even songbirds. Maybe… Saezuru? But that’s so awful. Seriously, Ivory? You wanna name it “chirp”?’_

They looked down to their Pokédex and noticed something.

This Pidgey was a female.

_‘Hm… Maybe I could name it…’_

They input the nickname, then said it aloud, “Torinoko.”

True to their unoriginality, it pretty much translated to “Chick,” but at least it sounded like a name.

With a shrug, Ivory put the Pokédex back in their pocket.

Ivory turned slightly. “Alright, let’s keep going. C’mon, Tanesuke.”

Ivory resumed walking through the tall grass. Thankfully, nothing else happened at all.

Before they knew it, Ivory had reached the entrance to Viridian Forest.

Without a word, they marched in.

The thick canopy of the forest swallowed all but a few faint beams of light. A Pidgey’s call rang from the distance.

Ivory continued walking forward, keeping their pace on the trail through the dark forest. Tanesuke followed closely.

Some minutes passed as they walked, heading forward through Viridian Forest.

Something rustled in the tall grass.

Ivory slowed down.

“Hm?” They looked at the tall grass. The rustling stopped.

Ivory blinked.

They kept walking.

Something rustled in the tall grass again, slightly closer to Ivory.

Ivory looked at the tall grass again. The rustling stopped.

Ivory furrowed their brow.

They kept walking.

Once more, something rustled in the tall grass, even closer to Ivory.

Ivory swiftly turned towards the rustling.

Slowly, a Weedle poked its head out of the grass. It stared at Ivory. Ivory stared back.

The Weedle squeaked loudly at Ivory.

 _‘Does this Weedle wanna battle?’_ Ivory thought.

They looked to their side. “Tanesu…”

Tanesuke wasn’t anywhere around. “Tanesuke?! Where’d you go?!”

The Weedle creeped out of the grass, building up some string in its mouth.

It shot a String Shot at Ivory, but it was interrupted by Tanesuke tackling it from behind.

The Weedle honked in pain as it fell in front of Ivory’s feet.

“…Thanks,” Ivory said, pulling out a Poké Ball. They tossed the Poké Ball onto the Weedle, enveloping it.

The ball stood still…

… _click!_

Ivory threw their hands up in the air. “Booyah! Second catch!”

They picked up the Poké Ball with one hand and pulled out their Pokédex with the other. “Alright. Male Weedle… What’ll I name you?”

They blinked.

“Crap.” They had forgotten about their problem with originality again.

“Hohhh…” they exhaled, hooking the Poké Ball to their belt. “Well, Weedle evolve into Kakuna, which evolve into Beedrill, right? So what’s a good name for a Beedrill…”

_‘Wasn’t there some Unovan boxer who made a quote like “Float like a Butterfree, sting like a Beedrill?” What was his name again? Mohamed Alley? It was something like that, definitely… Would naming it after him be too on-the-nose? Hmm… Maybe… Yari? No, that’s just “spear,” plus it sounds like a girl’s name. Sasu? I mean, it’s literally “sting,” but it sounds kinda masculine, right? I also like the “S” sound, so that’s a bonus.’_

“Yeah, I’ll call him Sasu.” Ivory entered the nickname and then put the Pokédex away.

Ivory started walking again, when a glimmer caught their eye.

“Hm?” They turned to face the glimmer.

There was a strange, gently shining crystal lying in the grass. It was shaped kind of like a plus, having two long parts and two short parts, each part having four sides.

Ivory leaned down. “What’s this?”

They went to pick it up, but halted before touching it.

“…Have I seriously been wearing only one glove this entire time?”

When they had scratched Tanesuke’s head, they had taken off a glove, and then somehow managed to forget about it until now.

Speechless, they fished the glove out of their pocket and put it on.

They grabbed the crystal off of the ground. As it entered their grasp, its shining stopped.

Ivory turned the crystal around in their gloved hands curiously. It was transparent, like pure glass.

They looked at the patch of grass the crystal was lying in. _‘Should I take this? It’s not mine… Someone probably dropped it here.’_

They put it in their pocket. _‘I hope there’s a lost-and-found around here.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try and update this fic at least twice a month.


	2. Bold and Boulder

_‘Geez, Viridian Forest is huge,’_ thought Ivory, who had been wandering around the forest for about ten minutes by now. It was boring. They hadn’t seen any new Pokémon ever since Sasu surprised them.

Ivory’s legs were starting to get tired, and there wasn’t any end in sight.

A rustle in the bushes caught their attention.

There was a yellow, heart-shaped tail sticking from the greenery. _‘A female Pikachu!’_

Ivory slowly approached. The Pikachu peeked out. Ivory glanced at Tanesuke, who was already prepared to battle.

The Pikachu lunged.

Ivory threw a Poké Ball and hit the Pikachu in mid-air, enveloping it.

The Poké Ball fell to the ground. Tanesuke looked disappointed.

 The Poké Ball wobbled…

…it snapped open!

_‘Drat! I almost had it!’_

The Pikachu got on all fours, electricity building up in its cheeks. “Pikaaa…”

Ivory pointed dramatically. “Tackle—”

“CHU!” The Pikachu fired a Thunder Shock at Tanesuke, blasting him back.

“Ah shit!” said Ivory. Tanesuke stumbled onto his feet.

The Pikachu started charging up again.

“Growl!” Ivory ordered.

Tanesuke winked and growled cutely.

The Pikachu stopped. It had an uncertain look on its face, with furrowed brows and a slightly opened mouth.

While the Pikachu was having what looked like an existential crisis, Ivory tossed a Poké Ball at it.

The Poké Ball wobbled…

_…click!_

Ivory squealed happily as they picked up the Ball and pulled out their Pokédex. For some reason, they didn’t feel hesitant about naming it.

“I’ll name her Kokoro, for her heart-shaped tail.”

They input the name and put the Pokédex back in their pocket.

They started walking again. After a few more boring minutes, Ivory reached the end of Viridian Forest.

They stepped out of Viridian Forest, shielding their eyes from the bright sun shining overhead.

“It’s already noon?! Jeez, I oughta get a move on.”

They looked behind their shoulder to make sure Tanesuke was following them, and then they started running up to Pewter City.

After a minute of sprinting, they arrived. They rested on a nearby fence, panting heavily, and looked out at Pewter City. It was a sizable city with plenty of modern-looking grayish-white buildings, true to the city’s motto, “A Stone Gray City.”

Ivory started walking down one of the ash-gray sidewalks. The crystal in their pocket pressed against their side.

Ivory tapped on a random man’s shoulder. “Excuse me, is there a lost-and-found anywhere nearby?”

The man shook his head. “Not that I know of, no.”

“Oh. Thanks anyway!” Ivory walked off.

They headed in front of Pewter City Gym. It was huge, just like Viridian City Gym, but something about it was a lot more imposing. The walkway in front of the door was made of bright white concrete, and above it loomed the dull gray and orange walls of the gym. The official Gym logo hung above the doorway.

Ivory took a step forward, and the automatic door slid open.

They stepped into a large, spacious room, with ceilings that went what looked like a hundred feet high. There was a big rocky field in the middle of the room, with raised seats for spectators to the left and right. The seats were mostly empty, aside from a couple bored-looking people. The Gym Leader was standing in the middle of the field with crossed arms.

Ivory pulled out their Pokédex and quickly reviewed their Pokémon.

Tanesuke’s moves were Tackle, Growl, Leech Seed, and Vine Whip.

Torinoko’s moves were Tackle and Sand Attack.

Sasu’s moves were Poison Sting and String Shot.

Kokoro’s moves were Thunder Shock, Growl, and Tail Whip.

Ivory put away their Pokédex and walked over to the Gym Leader.

“Hi,” said the Gym Leader. “I’m Brock, Leader of Pewter Gym and expert in Rock type Pokémon! Are you here for a Gym battle?”

“Yes.” Ivory nodded.

“Alright! What’s your name?”

“Ivory Kuroi.”

“Do you have any badges already, Ivory, or is this your first Gym?”

“This is my first.”

Brock nodded. “I see. In that case…” He pulled out two Poké Balls. “I’ll use these.”

“Shall we begin?” Brock asked with a confident smile.

“Yes!” said Ivory.

Brock threw a Poké Ball. “I choose you, Geodude!”

Ivory pointed dramatically. “Go, Tanesuke!”

Tanesuke ran forward, facing Brock’s Geodude.

“Hmm, a Bulbasaur,” said Brock. “Good choice.”

“Vine Whip!” Ivory ordered.

“Geodude, Defense Curl!”

Geodude curled up, but Tanesuke whipped it with a long vine and knocked it down.

Geodude fainted with a deep groan.

One of the spectators clapped and yelled, “Hell yeah, Bulbasaur!” The other spectator glared at the first.

Brock recalled his Geodude. “Wow, a one-hit KO! That’s a pretty strong Bulbasaur you’ve got.”  He held up his second Poké Ball. “Time for me to bring out my second Pokémon. You wanna switch out?”

Ivory thought for a moment. Sasu and Torinoko had a type disadvantage here, and Kokoro’s Electric-type attacks would be useless. “Nope.”

“OK.” Brock threw the Poké Ball. “Go, Onix!”

Brock’s Onix towered over Ivory and Tanesuke. Ivory’s heart skipped a beat. This Onix was gigantic! Way bigger than what they imagined from seeing them on TV…

“Rock Tomb!” Brock shouted.

Onix hurled a boulder at Tanesuke.

Ivory startled. “Oh! V—Vine Whip, Tanesuke!”

Tanesuke quickly slapped the boulder with a vine, just barely deflecting it back at Onix.

“You blanked out for a second, there. You need to keep your attention on the battle,” said Brock.

“Leech Seed!” said Ivory.

“Bind!” said Brock.

Tanesuke shot some seeds from his bulb and they latched onto Onix.

Onix curled its tail around Tanesuke, holding him in place.

Suddenly, Onix stiffened for a second and fell to the ground with a loud _crash!_

A cloud of dust scattered over the battlefield. Ivory covered their face and coughed.

The dust cleared, and Onix was limp on the ground.

Brock recalled his Onix. “Well, that’s the battle! Looks like you won!”

Ivory took a deep breath. They wiped some sweat off their forehead.

The spectator from before clapped again. “HELL YEAH BULBASAUR!”

The other spectator slowly clapped. “That was a battle, technically.”

Brock handed Ivory a shiny gray badge shaped like an octagon. “Congratulations, you’ve won the Boulder Badge.”

Ivory pulled out the badge case from their bag and carefully placed the badge inside.

They bowed. “Thank you.”

“No prob!” said Brock. “Also…”

He pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket. “To comply with Article IV, Section VIII of the International Pokémon Battling and Treatment Act, I have to give you some money as a reward.”

“Oh!” Ivory took the money and quickly counted it. It was 1400 Pokédollars.

They stuffed it in their wallet and bowed again. “Thank you!”

Ivory walked back through the gym.

They opened the door and stepped out. They took a deep breath. Their heart was still racing.

“Phew…”

They looked down at Tanesuke. “So… Our first badge, huh?”

Tanesuke smiled and chirped at Ivory.

“I feel happy, but also kinda weird…” Ivory continued. “Like a Butterfree’s stuck in my tummy or something.”

They turned east, towards Route 3. “Well…”

“…Let’s keep going.”


	3. Fly Me to Mt. Moon

Ivory strolled down Route 3 with Tanesuke at their side. The two of them were heading towards Mt. Moon.

Ah, Mt. Moon. It was one of Kanto’s most famous mountains, and Ivory had always had an interest in it. It was named for the Moon Stones that could be found there, which came from meteorite shards. Meteor showers were extraordinarily frequent around Mt. Moon, so there were always plenty of Moon Stones to be found.

It was also what separated Route 3 and Route 4, so Ivory and Tanesuke had to cross it in order to continue their journey.

Ivory noticed a Pokémon Center next to the entrance to Mt. Moon. _‘_ _My Pokémon_ do _need some healing…’_

As they entered, cheery muzak assaulted their ears. Tanesuke yelped in surprise. He seemed to hate it.

Ivory quickly withdrew Tanesuke to his Poké Ball and walked up to the counter.

“Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center!” said the nurse. “We restore your tired Pokémon to full health. Would you like to rest your Pokémon?”

Ivory nodded.

“OK, I’ll take your Pokémon for a few seconds.”

Ivory handed their occupied Poké Balls to the nurse. She laid them on a technological tray. She pushed a few buttons, and it glowed with light. A happy jingle played as each Pokémon was revitalized.

“Thank you for waiting! We’ve restored your Pokémon to full health.” The nurse handed Ivory their Poké Balls. “Please, come back again any time!”

“Thank you.” Ivory turned and walked out of the Pokémon Center.

With a smirk, they took Tanesuke out of his Ball again.

He was smiling wide, and he almost seemed to glow with energy. He looked rejuvenated.

“Let’s go!” said Ivory, feeling energized.

The two of them continued.

Entering Mt. Moon, they spotted a sign that said “DANGER! Zubat are everywhere in caves! Don’t let their droppings get into your eyeballs!”

The interior of Mt. Moon was dark and moist. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, stalagmites towered from the ground, and _hold up what the fuck did that sign say?!_

Ivory did a double take. Yup, that sign said what they thought it said. But why? Of all the things to warn people about… why Zubat poop? In your _eyeballs?_

Ivory decided that some things were best left unscrutinized and went back into Mt. Moon.

Ivory and Tanesuke walked through the caverns of Mt. Moon. It was dark, very dark, and Ivory was kind of afraid that they’d stub their toe.

The two of them slowly went forward. Thankfully, there were signs showing the way, which also happened to be the only source of light. Ivory had heard on the news a few years ago that these signs got put up as part of a worldwide initiative to make Pokémon journeys more accessible. Trainers used to have to use things called ‘HMs’ to travel through Kanto, but HMs were hard to come across and often inconvenient to use. Many Trainers had their careers cut short by the scarcity of HMs.

A brown nugget fell right in front of Ivory’s face.

“Agh!” Ivory stepped back and looked up. There was a Zubat flying in front of them.

Tanesuke stepped forward, but Ivory stopped them. “Wait, I wanna use someone else…”

“SASU!” Ivory shouted, throwing their Poké Ball. Sasu popped out and squeaked angrily.

“String Shot!”

Sasu shot sticky strings at the Zubat, restricting its movement.

The Zubat screeched at Sasu. Its screech rang through the caverns. Ivory covered their ears and winced. Sasu looked dazed.

“Poison Sting!”

Groggily, Sasu hit himself in the face with his tail.

“No, _Poison Sting!_ ”

The Zubat stumbled over to Sasu and bit him. He froze as it sucked some blood out of him.

It flapped back up, giving Ivory a grin as a drop of blood dripped down its chin.

“POISON STING!”

Sasu regained his senses and shot a needle at the Zubat, hitting it in the belly.

The Zubat fell to the ground.

Ivory pulled out a Poké Ball. They hesitated. They didn’t need another Flying type…

“Nah.” Ivory returned Sasu to his Poké Ball.

Ivory gave the Zubat a cold glare as they and Tanesuke walked past it. It looked disappointed. It broke out of Sasu’s strings and dejectedly flew away.

Ivory and Tanesuke continued walking. Instead of mentally reciting the history of random signs, Ivory looked around at their surroundings.

It was kinda pretty. The soft reddish light from the signs highlighted the rocks, contrasting with the strong shadows. Wild Pokémon scurried around, generally avoiding the path. A few were brave enough to head onto the path, but it was only a moment before they scampered off.

Ivory couldn’t help but feel like something was following them. Something was lurking behind them, keeping its distance.

Ivory slowed down. They turned around. Something peeked out from behind a rock.

It was a Sandshrew! That would be useful against the Vermilion Gym.

Ivory slowly stepped forward. The Sandshrew crawled toward them.

The two of them stood there for a few seconds.

Tanesuke walked forward and looked at Ivory.

Ivory nodded. “Vine Whip.”

Tanesuke whipped at the Sandshrew. It dodged.

Growling, it scratched Tanesuke, leaving a gash in his left shoulder.

“Leech Seed!”

Tanesuke spat some seeds from his bulb, and they stuck onto the Sandshrew.

The Sandshrew hurled a clawful of gravel into Tanesuke’s eyes. He cringed and stumbled back.

Ivory winced in sympathy. “Oogh… Growl!”

Tanesuke screamed, and the Sandshrew recoiled. While it was distracted, Ivory tossed a Poké Ball at it, ensnaring it.

The Poké Ball wobbled once…

It wobbled twice…

It wobbled thrice…

 _…POW!_ The Sandshrew broke out. It scratched Tanesuke again. He yowled.

“Vine Whip!” Ivory yelped.

Tanesuke slapped the Sandshrew to the ground. Ivory threw another Poké Ball at it and ensnared it again.

The ball wobbled once…

_…click!_

“Nice~!” Ivory picked up the Poké Ball. They pulled out their Pokédex and quickly started thinking of a name.

_‘Sandshrew… Hm. Sand… Suna…’_

“…Sunamaru.”

As Ivory put away their Pokédex, a thought struck them. “Jeez, I already have five Pokémon now. I’d better think carefully about what I’ll catch next.”

A sharp gasp came from a dark corner. Ivory turned.

A man clad in strange robes stepped out, staring at Ivory with wide, bloodshot eyes.

“Y—You!” the man cried, pointing at Ivory. “How did you get that crystal?!”

“…What?” Ivory asked.

The man stared into Ivory’s soul. “That crystal in your pocket!” he cried ethereally, “I can feel it… Where did you get it?”

Ivory gave the man a strange look. “…I don’t think that’s any of your business,” they said.

“Yes it is! Do you have any idea what kind of crystal that is?!”

“Judging by your reaction, an expensive one,” said Ivory.

“It’s no ordinary expensive jewelry! It’s a Mentis Crystal!”

“A what? Minty Crystal?”

“MENTIS CRYSTAL!” the man roared. “Named for our great leader, the Eternal Spirit Mentis! He Who Will Build PARADISE!”

Ivory blinked. “Uhhh…” They had no idea how to respond. This man was clearly crazy, so they probably needed to play it safe.

“…Yeah, of course! That guy! Mantis! How could I forget?”

The man’s eye twitched. He stared at Ivory murderously.

Sweat dripped down Ivory’s forehead. _‘Shit.’_

“IT’S _MENTIIIS!!!_ ” the man screeched as he charged at Ivory like a Tauros.

Ivory ran out of the way, barely dodging the crazy man. Tanesuke yelped.

“GIVE IT TO ME, HERETIC!” The man turned and snatched the Mentis Crystal out of Ivory’s pocket.

Ivory grabbed the crystal like their life depended on it and kicked the man in the crotch. “NO!”

“Oogh!” The man let go of the crystal and fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

Ivory turned away and ran, taking the crystal with them.

The man got up and shouted, “HERETIC!” He ran after Ivory.

Ivory fled through the winding caverns, turning corners and dashing past wild Pokémon.

They came face-to-face with a wall. Dead end.

The man broke into a sprint. Ivory barely had time to turn around before he struck them with a rock.

Ivory fell to the ground. The Mentis Crystal rolled out of their hands.

The man picked it up. It glowed with a blinding light. He brandished it above Ivory. “FOR MENTIS!”

The man froze. He fell down.

Tanesuke stood behind the man’s limp body. Leech seeds were embedded in the man’s back.

“…Nice job, Tanesuke,” said Ivory. They stood up and brushed some dirt off of their jacket.

Ivory kneeled down to grab the crystal. Its glow was quickly dimming. As Ivory picked it up, it became completely transparent again.

“Hm…” Ivory looked at the man’s hands. They were bare.

Ivory took off their left glove and held the crystal in their bare hand.

It shone with white light. A tingly draining feeling shot through Ivory’s palm. Their whole arm went limp, and they dropped the crystal. Their heart stung slightly.

“Just what _is_ this thing…?!”


	4. Skipping Cerulean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stuff finally gets going in this chapter, and a lot happens.

Ivory stared down at the Mentis Crystal.

“…Tanesuke, I have an idea.”

Tanesuke made an inquisitive growl. Ivory pointed at the crystal. “Put your paw on one end of this crystal, and I’ll put my hand on the other.”

Tanesuke looked unsure, but he put his paw on the crystal. Ivory put their bare hand on the other end of the crystal.

 Ivory wasn’t sure what would happen. It seemed like the Mentis Crystal was a good conductor of energy, to the point that it could completely suck the energy out of someone’s arm. Then again, Ivory didn’t really know much about energy. They had never been good at physics class…

If Ivory’s idea was right, then the massive amount of energy in their own body would flow into Tanesuke’s body.

Static burst through Ivory’s body. The whole world went blurry, white, then black.

A dark void stretched out into infinity. Indistinct shapes floated in the distance.

It was cold. It was heavy. Something stung.

Ivory groaned as they woke up. Their head hurt like it got stabbed by a Beedrill.

The world around them was spinning like a teacup ride. Something tall and blurry was in front of them. They couldn’t quite tell what it was, other than it was red and pink.

“Agh… That wasn’t a good idea…” Ivory tried to say, but it came out as “Ghahh rrhnn goughhd dhhah…”

_‘Huh? Why am I speaking so weird?’_

Ivory focused. They were lying down on the ground, and it was cold. Someone was sitting next to them.

Ivory couldn’t believe their eyes. It was themself. A color-swapped version of themself was sitting on the ground, slumped over slightly. They were wearing a pastel pink shirt under a blood-red jacket, and they had dark teal jeans. Their boots were the same pink tint as their shirt.

Slowly, the other Ivory’s eyes opened. They gasped as they saw themself lying down next to them. They fell onto their front, and then they stared in wonder at their own arms as their long black hair cascaded down.

The first Ivory tried to get up, only to fall onto their rear. They also gasped. Their skin was scaly and sky blue with dark spots. Aside from the color, it looked extremely familiar…

 _‘No way…’_ They looked up at the other Ivory, who seemed to realize it too.

Ivory and Tanesuke had swapped bodies.

Tanesuke opened and closed his mouth. He made a few groans, but no words.

Ivory got on all fours and walked towards Tanesuke. They looked up at him with wide eyes. He stared back at them.

Slowly, Ivory managed to grunt out something that vaguely sounded like “Tanesuke,” and gesture at him.

He nodded. He carefully murmured the name “Ivory,” and pointed at them.

The two of them were still for a moment.

They both breathed heavily.

Ivory broke the silence by growling and gesturing at the Mentis Crystal. Tanesuke nodded.

The two of them touched the crystal and swapped bodies again. Ivory gasped as they felt themself rush back into their own human body, which shivered rapidly. Tanesuke shivered, too.

Ivory got their left glove back on, barely stopping to readjust to human vision, and shoved the crystal in their bag. “That was… weird.”

They quickly made their way out of Mt. Moon.

It was the middle of the night. The breeze was frigid, and the bright moon hung in the sky, flanked by twinkling stars.

Ivory got the tent from their bag and started setting up camp.

Tanesuke whined and gestured at a sign that said, “NO CAMPING WITHIN 20 METERS OF THIS SIGN.”

Ivory shrugged, walked 21 meters away from the sign, and set up camp. As they entered the tent, they took out some trail mix from their bag. They ate a bit, fed some to Tanesuke, and then went to sleep.

They awoke to the smell of smoke.

It was hot. They opened their eyes and realized their tent was on fire.

“What the fuck?!” they screamed, dashing out of the tent with Tanesuke in tow. Thank Arceus they were using their bag as a pillow, otherwise they probably would have abandoned it.

A group of people dressed like the weird old man from before was standing in a circle around the burning tent. As they saw Ivory, they shouted, “Kill the heretic!”

They charged at Ivory. The group screamed. Ivory screamed. Tanesuke screamed. Ivory climbed over someone in the crowd and sprinted away down Route 4. Judging by the starry sky, it was still late at night.

The cultists pursued Ivory. Somehow, Tanesuke evaded them and ran by Ivory’s side. They all ran through Route 4 onto the pale cyan walkways of Cerulean City. The Gym hung in the skyline, jutting out from the short buildings around it. But there was no time to sightsee. Ivory fled down a random street to the south. They ran until their legs were screaming at them to stop, and then they ran even more. Tanesuke panted loudly as the two of them sprinted away.

Ivory stopped at the southmost end of Cerulean City and sighed. They looked around to make sure they had lost the cultists. “Sheesh, what’s _with_ those guys?”

In the distance, the crowd of cultists were shouting, “Kill the heretic! Long live Mentis!” Seeing as it was the middle of the night, this woke up a lot of civilians. One by one, lights started turning on, and a few people even went outside to see what was happening. _‘Good,’_ Ivory thought, _‘That’ll slow them down.’_

Ivory briskly walked south to Route 5. They went down the short route and entered Saffron City.

As they saw the silhouette of the Gym, a thought entered their mind.

“I should get a Ghost-type to fight Saffron Gym,” they said, glancing at Tanesuke. “Plus, it’ll be good to get more distance between us and those cultists.”

The two of them turned east and walked through Saffron City. It was somewhat odd to see a city in the middle of the night. The only light was from the amber-colored streetlamps that loomed above the sidewalks. Soon, Ivory reached Route 8.

They shivered. It was extremely cold, almost like it was winter. The air was completely still. There wasn’t even the slightest breeze.

Ivory walked down the route. Oddly, it was paved with asphalt, and there were only a few scant patches of grass. The asphalt curved around like calligraphy, specifically like the word “minimum” written in cursive without the tittles.

Following the road, Ivory noticed something huddled underneath a tree. They stepped toward it and took a closer look.

A Haunter was lying under the tree. It seemed to be asleep, with its eyes closed and its mouth open a crack. Ivory found it somewhat cute. Tanesuke didn’t. He grimaced and stepped behind Ivory’s legs, like a child hiding behind its mother.

Ivory kneeled down next to the Haunter and watched it for a moment.

Their eyelids drooped. Now that they had time to relax, they realized they were really sleepy.

They had to set up camp first… Wait, right, their tent got burned.

They rubbed their eyes and stood up. It would be better to keep moving. They turned around and groggily stepped away.

A growl sounded, and they stopped.

They turned back. The Haunter was floating in front of them curiously, rubbing sleep out of its eyes. Tanesuke was growling at it.

“Yo,” said Ivory, waving at the Haunter. The Haunter looked confused, but it waved back.

“Say, I’m gonna be taking on Saffron Gym pretty soon, and I’ll need a Ghost type…” Ivory drowsily pulled out a Poké Ball. “Mind if I capture you?”

The Haunter looked even more confused.

Ivory didn’t move. They kept holding up the Poké Ball as they slowly fell asleep while standing up.

Tanesuke glanced at Ivory.

The Haunter shrugged, pressed the button on the Poké Ball, and was engulfed inside.

_Click!_

It took a few seconds for the click to register in Ivory’s brain. They gasped.

“…Holy crap, did I just do that?!” they yelled, looking up at the stars. “Did I just talk a Pokémon into getting captured?!”

Tanesuke growled in confused encouragement.

“Uh,” They fished the Pokédex out. “Alright, time to name it.”

_‘I’ll just name it “Ball” in my native language. Oh my Arceus I’m getting sleepy again…’_

“Tama,” they slurred, smashing the name into the Pokédex and then smushing it into their pocket.

They were already asleep before they crashed to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My headcanon is that Bulbasaurs have tritanopia (green-blue colorblindness). I don't really have a reason for it other than it would be interesting.


	5. Getting Back to Cerulean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Ivory's actually pretty socially awkward, but there hasn't really been an opportunity to show it until this chapter.

“Excuse me? Excuse me, miss? …Mister?”

Ivory jolted awake. An officer was standing above them with a concerned look on her face.

“Uh, how can I help you, officer?” Ivory asked.

“What are you doing sleeping in the middle of the road?” the officer asked.

Ivory looked around. “I’m sleeping, what else could I be doing?”

“In the middle of the road?”

“Yes,” Ivory nodded, “I was very tired.”

The officer pointed finger guns at Ivory. “Don’t you have a tent or anything?”

“Nah, it burned,” Ivory blurted. They immediately cringed internally. _‘Fuck. Why the fuck did I just tell her that. Now she’s gonna get_ worried _about me, and that’s the last thing I want. Arceus damn it.’_

“Burned?”

“Yeah, a group of people tried to burn me to death in my sleep and I lost my tent. I made it out unscathed, though,” Ivory admitted, mentally screaming.

The officer blinked. “A group of people tried to _burn you in your sleep_?!”

Ivory shrugged. “Yeah, why?”

Ivory’s apparent nonchalantness knocked the words out of the officer. She stared at them speechlessly.

“…That’s sort of a serious thing!” she blurted.

“Sure is,” said Ivory as a bead of sweat dripped down their neck. ~~~~

“What did these people look like?” the officer asked.

“Uh… They were wearing some kinda weird… robes, I think,” said Ivory. The officer pulled out a notepad. Ivory continued, “Eh… They were mostly white, kinda like a toga, but they had a pattern on them. I couldn’t really get a good look at it.”

The officer wrote a bit. “I see… Thank you, this will be quite useful.”

She walked away, and Ivory gasped for air. They felt like they had just aged twenty years.

Tanesuke chirped at them, grabbing their attention.

“Ah! Eh… Let’s go tackle Cerulean now,” said Ivory.

The two of them walked west, towards Cerulean City.

In the distance, they could see the Cerulean Gym. It looked a lot different when it wasn’t the middle of the night while Ivory was being chased by an angry band of cultists. Right now, under the sunlit blue sky, it looked majestic.

Before long, they arrived, and they stepped through the automatic doors.

Inside, the Gym looked like a pool. Most of the floorspace was taken up by water, aside from a small path that led to a circular arena. As it was so early, there wasn’t a person in sight aside from the Gym Leader, who was standing in the middle of the arena.

Ivory took the time to review their Pokémon.

Tanesuke had two new moves: Poison Powder and Sleep Powder.

Sunamaru’s moves were Scratch, Defense Curl, and Sand Attack.

Tama’s moves were Hypnosis, Lick, Mean Look, Curse, and Confuse Ray. Ivory grimaced at his moveset. _‘I oughta teach him some new moves. These… aren’t particularly good in battle, aside from Hypnosis.’_

Ivory approached the Gym Leader.

“Hi! You’re a new face!” she said.

Ivory nodded. “I’m Ivo—”

“What’s your policy on Pokémon? What’s your approach?” she continued.

“…I like to—”

“My policy is an all-out offensive with Water-type Pokémon!” She posed like an anime character. “Misty, the world-famous beauty, is your host! Are you ready?”

“I—”

“Cool! Let’s battle!”

Misty pitched a Poké Ball. “I choose you, Staryu!”

Ivory tossed a Poké Ball. “…Kokoro.”

Kokoro popped out and yelled, “PIKA!”

The Staryu HYAH’d as it exited its ball.

“Thunder Shock!” Ivory ordered.

Kokoro shot a bolt of electricity at the Staryu. It hit, and the Staryu stumbled back.

“Tackle!” Misty shouted.

The Staryu charged at Kokoro and lunged. Its pointy end jabbed into her torso, knocking her down.

“Pikaaa!” she squealed.

Ivory grit their teeth. “Thunder Shock!”

Kokoro took a deep breath.

“CHU!” She sent a jolt of electricity through the Staryu’s body, knocking it unconscious.

Misty recalled her Staryu. “Wow, you’re good~! Are you gonna switch your Pokémon?”

Ivory thought for a moment. The only Pokémon they had that were super effective against Water-types were Kokoro and Tanesu—

“Hurry it up, there’s people waiting!!” said someone from behind Ivory.

“Huh?” Ivory turned around and came face to face with a startlingly long line of Trainers going all the way to the door.

They turned back with wide eyes. “Uh… I’ll just keep using this,” they said.

Misty nodded and threw her next Poké Ball. “I choose me, Starmie!”

The Starmie, too, went HYAH.

Unhesitating, Ivory commanded for the third time, “Thunder Shock!”

Kokoro shot some electricity at the Starmie, but it just barely dodged.

“Water Pulse!” The Starmie sent a pulsing blast of water at Kokoro and knocked her down while also getting water all over the floor.

Ivory frowned as Kokoro got back up. “…Thunder Shock!”

Kokoro fired yet another Thunder Shock and hit the Starmie. It stumbled back.

“Swift!” Misty smirked. The Starmie put two of its appendages together and shot out a flurry of star-shaped rays, all of them making a direct hit with Kokoro.

And, for the fifth time, Ivory yelled, “Thunder Shock!”

Kokoro, still lying on the ground, laid her cheek on the wet floor and sent out a jolt of electricity.

The Starmie convulsed as volt after volt ran through the water into its body. Kokoro electrocuted it for a few more seconds until it finally dropped to the ground.

“Wow!” said Misty as she returned the Starmie to its Poké Ball. “You’re too much, alright!”

Misty handed Ivory a teardrop-shaped badge, followed by 2100 Pokédollars. “You can have the Cascade Badge to show that you beat me.”

Ivory bowed. “Thank—”

“NEXT!” Misty shouted, shoving Ivory away. Another Trainer stepped in front of her, and she quickly recited her pre-battle speech. “Hi! You’re a new face!...”

Mildly confused, Ivory walked out of the Gym.

They looked up at the clear sky. The day was still young.

Ivory glanced left and right, seeing the passersby going about their lives, and they realized something.

They had a _lot_ of time on their hands. As a Pokémon Trainer, they could spend as much time wandering as they wanted and nobody would mind.

So far, they had just been going straight from one destination to another, but maybe it would be nice to hang around a bit, do some stuff, look at some sights, bond with their Pokémon…

Plus, they really needed some time to destress… and also a new tent.


	6. So That's What Mentis Crystals Do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, we're getting to the part of the story I'm actually interested in writing.  
> Turns out, body-swapping is just one thing that can be done with a Mentis Crystal...

Ivory walked around Cerulean City. They were taking some time to explore it, to truly see it instead of just passing through it for a badge.

First, they needed to heal their Pokémon, given that they had just finished a Gym battle. Of course, they only used one Pokémon in the fight, but they still felt like healing the others, too.

Ivory approached the Pokémon Center.

Tanesuke grabbed their leg and growled. Ivory looked at him. “Huh?”

Tanesuke pointed at the Pokémon Center, and then rapidly shook his head.

“…Do you not want to go in the Pokémon Center?”

Tanesuke nodded, still clutching Ivory’s leg.

“Alright, but I need to heal Kokoro, so…” Ivory took out Tanesuke’s Poké Ball and withdrew him. “…yeah.”

They entered the Pokémon Center and headed to the counter.

“Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center!” the nurse recited. She said the standard nurse speech, and then Ivory handed her their Poké Balls. In just a few seconds, their Pokémon were healed, and Ivory took back their balls.

Ivory turned around and bumped into a small boy wearing a sweater and a backwards cap. He had his hands on his hips, and a large Machoke was standing behind him.

“Hey, long hair!” he said in a thick Johto accent.

“Yes?” said Ivory.

“I noticed on the display when you were gettin’ yer Pokémon healed, you’ve got a Haunter, right?”

“Yeah, why?” Ivory asked, slightly uncomfortable.

“Ya wanna trade it for my Machoke so it’ll evolve, and then trade ’em back again?”

Ivory shrugged. “I’ll have to make sure it’s OK with my Haunter, first.”

“Ollraght,” said the boy. “Geddit out, thayn!”

They took out Tama’s Poké Ball and released him. He looked around the interior of the Pokémon Center, and then at Ivory.

Ivory opened their mouth and sai—

“Aight, so,” said the boy, “I wanna trade yew for mah M’Choke ‘ind thayn trade yew back so both y’all evawlv.”

Tama nodded and gave a thumbs up.

“Great!” said the boy. Ivory withdrew Tama.

They and the boy went up to the trading machine. Every Pokémon Center had a trading machine, usually on the upper floor. It was a wide, complex-looking device that had only one function: to let Trainers trade Pokémon with one another.

The boy stepped forward and set the trading machine to “Local,” and a pair of receptacles emerged. Ivory knew that trading machines had two modes, Local and Global. In Global mode, a Trainer could trade with Trainers from all around the world, given that they were at another Pokémon Center, using a system called GTS.

“Ahem,” the boy cleared his throat, prompting Ivory out of their thoughts. He had already placed his Poké Ball on a receptacle, and the display showed that it held his Machoke.

The display also showed a few more things, such as its sex (male) and the name of its Trainer (Azzamook).

Ivory placed their Poké Ball, and the two of them traded.

Azzamook picked up Tama’s new Poké Ball.

“Alright, now let’s trade them back!” said Ivory, holding up the Machoke’s ball.

Azzamook smirked.

“See ya, sucker!” He jumped down the escalator and sprinted out of the Pokémon Center.

“Huh?! Hey, come back!”

Ivory ran outside after Azzamook, only to slam into the side of a businessman. He dropped his briefcase and fell to the ground.

“Ah, sorry!” Ivory said, helping him up. They helped him get his briefcase, and then quickly turned around. They spotted Azzamook dashing away in the distance.

Ivory resumed running. “You aren’t gonna get away from me!”

They sprinted after him at top speed, dodging pedestrians left and right. Azzamook fled with much less grace, slapping people and objects out of his way.

Soon, Ivory was almost in grabbing distance of Azzamook. He looked over his shoulder, screamed, and kicked down a trash can. Ivory stumbled back as the can spilled out onto the pavement.

They leapt over the trash and kept running after him. Despite that being such a small delay, Azzamook had gotten a lot of distance between them. This boy could run fast!

He ducked into an alley, and Ivory followed. They looked into the alley to find nothing.

The alley was empty. Well, there was a dumpster and some litter, but no Azzamook.

He had to have gone somewhere. But where…?

Ivory glanced upwards and to the left. Azzamook was climbing up a building, supporting himself on windowsills and bricks. He was already halfway up.

Biting their lip, Ivory wondered what to do. They weren’t exactly good at climbing, but there wasn’t any faster way to chase after him…

An idea struck them. As Azzamook continued to climb, Ivory carefully grabbed the Mentis Crystal from their bag. They took off a glove, filled the Mentis Crystal with energy, and then threw it.

It hit him just behind the right ear, and he fell onto the dumpster.

Double vision and vertigo struck Ivory. They buckled over, grabbing the back of their head. “Agh…!”

Azzamook mimicked their actions, weakly grabbing his head. Ivory stumbled back, and Azzamook rolled backwards onto the cold, hard concrete. His head hit the ground. The crystal was forced deep into his skull.

A blinding flash of light appeared.

Ivory _Azzamook_ was _is_ lying _standing_ on _next to_ the floor _himself_ …

_His_ Their _arms_ a **rms** _are_ **were** _fine_ **broken** …

**Everything** _~~HURT~~ _

_~~Standing~~ _

**~~Lying~~ **

**~~What~~ _is_ Happening.**

**Ivory** focused. They were in two places at once. That was impossible, but also the only way to explain what was happening.

They were standing in an alley, watching Azzamook twitch on the ground.

Also, they were lying on cold concrete. They had definitely broken a few bones, judging by the horrible pain they were in.

They stepped forward cautiously.

Also, their legs flailed in the air.

Ivory halted as Azzamook kicked the air, and then they realized something. This was happening because of the Mentis Crystal. Because they had filled it with their own energy and struck Azzamook with it, they could control his body.

With that realization, everything felt normal. Ivory willed Azzamook’s body to stand up. His arms were broken, but they looked fine underneath that thick sweater. Ivory raised an eyebrow and frowned. _‘Why is this guy wearing a sweater during the spring, anyway?’_

_~~‘Because it helps me hide knives…’~~ _

Ivory gasped. That was a thought from Azzamook. And… wait, _knives?_

_~~‘I always carry a knife with me in case I get mugged… I have a favorite knife, which I’ve named Knifie, and I carry him in my left back pocket… I carry a lot of knives on me…’~~ _

These weren’t conscious thoughts. Azzamook wasn’t even really awake right now. It was more like Ivory was looking into his memories, just as naturally as they would look into their own.

Ivory moved Azzamook’s left hand to his back pocket, and sure enough, they felt a knife-shaped lump inside.

The Mentis Crystal slowly sunk deeper into Azzamook’s head until it was completely submerged.

Ivory put on their glove, turned around, and they and Azzamook walked out of the alley. Casually, they made their way back to the Pokémon Center.

As they walked, Ivory thought. Their mind trailed back to when they were in the cave, lying on the ground, with a cultist standing above them and brandishing a glowing Mentis Crystal. They finally understood what he was about to do. He was going to possess them, just like how they possessed Azzamook. Was this what “Mentis” was doing? Was he possessing those cultists? Or were they just weird like that? And what did “He Who Will Build Paradise” mean, anyway? How would he “build” paradise? Through possessing people?

Thousands more questions ran through Ivory’s mind, none of which they had an answer to.

Their mind drifted to the topic of the Mentis Crystals themselves. They still didn’t know exactly how they worked, but they thought they understood the gist of it. It seemed that Mentis Crystals could channel some sort of life energy, and this life energy could be used to control things. When Tanesuke and Ivory swapped bodies, they had exchanged life energies by touching the crystal at the same time. Now, with Ivory possessing Azzamook through the crystal, they had put their own life energy into his body while not taking his energy into their body.

Ivory arrived at the Pokémon Center, and they quietly entered it with Azzamook. They headed back to the trading machine. Calmly, they traded the Machoke for Tama.

With a shaky smile, Ivory took Tama out of his Poké Ball. They were pretty disgusted in themself for possessing Azzamook, but they took the moment to look at the newly-evolved Gengar.

Tama faced them with a wide, toothy grin. He, too, was interested in his new, round body, checking out all the parts of his body he could see with his combination head and torso.

“Hey, Tama,” they said. Tama opened his teeth a tad and chuckled.

He then noticed Azzamook, who was standing next to Ivory with a glazed look in his eyes. Tama gestured at him and made a confused growl at Ivory.

Quickly, Ivory withdrew Tama.

They started walking away, but they stopped, just in front of the escalator. They turned around and faced Azzamook.

They had to get the Mentis Crystal out of him. There was no way they would just leave it in there. But it was stuck inside his head, so what could they do?

_‘Well, I can control Azzamook with my mind, so maybe I can control the crystal itself…’_

Ivory focused on the crystal. They felt it surrounded by Azzamook’s warm, wet, spongy brain, which was currently bathed in Ivory’s energy. Their energy focused back into the crystal, and it started sliding forward.

Azzamook screamed like a Loudred as the crystal burst out of his face and flew into Ivory’s hand. Blood spurted out onto the clean white floor.

Ivory stepped back in surprise. An equally surprised bystander rushed to Azzamook’s side, asking if he was OK.

And he was. Somehow, the wound closed just as quickly as it opened. There wasn’t even the slightest hint of a scar. He stared up at the ceiling with blank eyes.

Ivory looked down at the crystal, which still had some blood splatters on it. It was still glowing a bit, so they hid it in their bag and ran outside while the focus was on Azzamook.

They took Tanesuke out of his ball. He looked around, and then chirped at Ivory.

“Hey, Tanesuke…” said Ivory. “Y’know, I’ve heard there’s a beautiful view at Route 25. Let’s go hang out there for a bit.”

Tanesuke looked confused, but he nodded and smiled.

The two of them nonchalantly walked north towards Route 25. As they went, Ivory spoke.

“So, uh… While you were in your ball, I, uh… did something stupid.”

Tanesuke growled inquisitively.

“After I healed you, this boy came up to me, and, well…” Over the course of a few minutes, Ivory awkwardly explained what had happened. “And then I took you out of your ball, and here we are.”

Tanesuke looked shocked. His crimson eyes were wide open, and he halted for a moment.

“Yeah… I know, that was fucked up,” said Ivory guiltily.

Tanesuke nodded and silently walked behind Ivory the rest of the way.

A couple tense minutes later, they arrived at the eastern shore of Route 25.

Ivory leaned on a white-painted fence and took in the view. The sunlight shimmered over the blue ocean, which gently rippled with waves. They could faintly see the silhouettes of Pokémon, Magikarp and Goldeen and such, swimming underwater. Salty air filled their lungs.

Tanesuke sighed. Ivory smiled, and then took out the rest of their Pokémon. One by one, they let out Torinoko, Sasu, Kokoro, Sunamaru, and Tama.

They all looked around. It was clear that they were wondering why they had been brought out.

“It’s beautiful out here, isn’t it?” said Ivory.

Everyone gazed out at the ocean. Kokoro smiled and squeaked, “Chu!”

Sasu made a low honk while Torinoko flew up and perched on the fence next to Ivory. Sunamaru and Tama lied down on the grass.

Tanesuke curled up next to Ivory’s feet and closed his eyes.

Ivory smiled contently, suppressing the memories of what they did today. The calm breeze gently rustled their hair.

Then they frowned, as they remembered they still had to buy a tent.


	7. Let’s Go Train Some Pokémon!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is basically 90% pop-culture references.

Ivory was walking through a sporting goods store, searching for a tent. They looked up and down aisles, finding a lot of stuff like cleats, flasks, and baseball bats, but no tents.

They stood with their hands on their hips in front of a big rack of guns imported from Unova. They looked at it for a second, and then walked off to another tent-less part of the store.

They happened upon a display with some Revives. Shrugging, they grabbed one and continued their search.

After several minutes of searching, Tanesuke ran up to them and growled. He pointed his head towards an aisle and led Ivory to, finally, a tent.

“…Oh hell _yeah!_ ” said Ivory, snatching the tent right off the shelf and running to the checkout.

“Hi, have you found everything good so far?” the cashier asked with a sultry look.

Ivory nodded and handed the tent and Revive to him. “Yes.”

Slowly, carefully, with the attention that one would give a newborn baby, the cashier scanned the tent’s barcode.

_Beep!_

“Oh~!” he said, his eyes rolling back for just a moment.

He then scanned the Revive.

_Beep!_

“Oogh!” he grunted, lurching forward violently.

The monitor beside him showed the price, which he then stated. “That will be 6,500 Pokédollars, please.”

Ivory fished through their wallet and handed the cashier the money. He yoinked it from their fingers and took in a breath through clenched teeth.

Then, he put it in the cash register. “Would you like a receipt?”

Ivory nodded.

With a stifled gasp and a reddening face, the cashier pressed a button, and soon a receipt was printed and handed to Ivory.

“Have a great day!” moaned the cashier as Ivory uncomfortably walked out with their new tent.

They shoved it in their bag and took out some trail mix. They fed Tanesuke a bit, ate some themself, and looked southward.

“Let’s go to Saffron City,” they said, eager to get away from this store.

And so the two of them walked south to Saffron City. It was a very long and boring walk, during which not much happened. No cultists tried to attack Ivory or anything, which made them feel very relieved.

They arrived in Saffron City and decided to go to the Gym. They had had enough sight-seeing for today.

The Saffron City Gym was a tall, elegant building. It looked very modern, with its exterior covered completely by purple-tinted glass panels. A large arch formed the doorway, and at its top was the official Gym logo made from LEDs that at the moment were turned off, since it was the middle of the day.

Ivory entered the Gym, took out their Pokédex, and reviewed their Pokémon.

They groaned. Literally all of their Pokémon except Tama were unevolved.

 _‘I should train them more…’_ they thought, shamefully putting away their Pokédex.

They walked out of the Gym. After all, they weren’t just going to idly think about what they should do without doing it. They were going to take initiative and train these Pokémon! That’s what being a Pokémon Trainer is about!

Ivory knew where to go. In their childhood, they used to be a big fan of a show titled _Trainer Nightmares_ , in which a foul-mouthed Galarian Pokémon Trainer named Rordon Gamsey visited poorly-managed Gyms, Battle Towers, and other such places across the world. In one episode, he had visited the Fighting Dojo in Saffron City, which was notable for being the former Gym of the city before being usurped by the current Psychic-type Gym. Ivory didn’t really remember much else about the episode.

After popping in a Pokémon Center and taking a quick look at a map of the city, Ivory was off towards the Fighting Dojo.

They arrived at an old, traditional-looking building, which also happened to be right next to the Saffron Gym, so they didn’t need to bother looking at a map.

Facepalming, they entered the Dojo.

It was just as traditional-looking on the inside, what with tatami floors, white scrolls hanging from the wall, and shoji walls. There was an arena outlined in the middle of the floor.

“Oi, welcome to the Fighting Dojo! Are you here to train?!” asked a man in white robes and a black belt, flexing dramatically.

“Hell yeah!” said Ivory.

“Awesome!” The man performed a bras d’honneur and pulled out a Poké Ball. “If you don’t mind, I, Ronnie James, shall be your first opponent!”

Ivory pointed. “I’ll start with my Bulbasaur, Tanesuke.”

“I’m gonna use my Machop,” said the Ronnie James.

The two of them stood at opposite ends of the arena and sent out their Pokémon. Tanesuke ran into the arena, while the Machop came swooshing out of a Poké Ball and struck a fabulous pose. Ivory barely resisted the urge to mimic it.

“Since you’re new here, I’ll let you go first,” said Ronnie James.

“Hm, thanks,” said Ivory. “…Vine Whip!”

Tanesuke swiftly brought out a pair of vines. Machop leapt out of the way just as they came swiping towards him. He landed and posed again.

“Karate Chooop!” said Ronnie James.

Dramatically, Machop bounded towards Tanesuke and brought the side of his hand smashing into Tanesuke’s side.

“Sleep Powder!” said Ivory.

Tanesuke’s bulb bulged, and a white mist came spraying out. Machop covered his mouth, but it was already too late. He collapsed to the ground.

“I—Impossible! This power…” Ronnie James grunted, inexplicably coughing up a pint of blood.

Ivory blinked. “Uh… Dude, you alright there?”

“Yeah, I’m fine…” said Ronnie James. He wiped his mouth and pointed at Ivory. “Let’s continue.”

Ivory nodded. “OK. Leech Seed.”

Tanesuke plopped a few seeds inside Machop’s side.

Ronnie James folded his arms, taking a deep breath. “Hm…”

“OH!!!!!!!!!” He screamed at the top of his lungs for twenty seconds straight. Ivory and Tanesuke covered their ears.

Machop stirred. He groggily stood back up, picking mucus out from his eyes. Ivory gasped in wonder.

“Low Kick!” said Ronnie James.

Machop did a sliding kick, kicking Tanesuke in the face. Tanesuke recoiled, purple blood spurting from his nostrils.

Ivory squinted and bit their lip. “Vine Whip!”

Tanesuke swung his vines and barely grazed Machop. Machop and Ronnie James folded their arms.

“Tackle!” said Ivory.

Machop sidestepped Tanesuke as he dashed forward.

“Flamethrower!” said Ronnie James.

“What the fu—” Ivory was cut off by Machop beautifully sending a huge wave of flame at Tanesuke. Tanesuke screeched, his whole body encased by fire.

“OH SHIT! UH, VINE WHIP!”

Tanesuke yowled like a Purrugly in heat and whacked Machop with a burning vine, setting him on fire too.

Ronnie James coughed up another splat of blood. “Impossible! This sort of power…!” he said while gritting his teeth.

“Dude, seriously, are you alright?” Ivory asked, while Tanesuke and Machop screamed in pain. “I could get you a tissue or something.”

“No, I’m fine…” Ronnie James grunted.

The flames that burned Tanesuke and Machop extinguished suddenly. Everybody gasped, except for Machop, who had fainted face-down on the battlefield, his body covered by burns.

Tanesuke slowly walked over to Ivory. They gave him a Potion to heal his wounds.

Ronnie James withdrew his Machop. “Hm… Nice round. I’ll get out my Machoke next. You gonna switch out?”

“Nah, I’ll stick with Tanesuke for now,” said Ivory.

Ronnie threw a Poké Ball dramatically, releasing his Machoke. It posed the moment its feet touched the floor, and Ronnie posed with it.

Smirking, Ronnie ordered, “Focus Blast!”

Ivory and Tanesuke flinched back as something made of pure spiritual energy came out of Machoke. It flew up to Tanesuke and punched him. Then it punched him again. It punched him so hard he flew up into the air, but this evil spirit kept punching.

As it sent punch after punch after punch upon Tanesuke, Ronnie James shouted, “Useless, useless, useless, useless, USELESS!”

The Machoke, after about thirty seconds of non-stop punching, finally stopped. Tanesuke lay limp on the ground.

“Good grief!” said Ivory, recalling Tanesuke. “Your Machoke is strong!”

“What’ll your next Pokémon be?” Ronnie James asked with a smirk.

“My next Pokémon is my Pidgey, Torinoko!”

Ivory threw a Poké Ball, and Torinoko came flying out.

“Sand Attack!” Ivory instantly instructed.

Torinoko kicked a bunch of sand into Machoke’s eyes.

“Focus Blast!” said Ronnie James.

Machoke uselessly punched the air with his spirit, missing Torinoko completely. She strutted around smugly.

“Tackle!”

Torinoko launched herself into Machoke’s cheek. He fell down, puking a stream of blood.

“Okay!” Ivory screamed. They pointed at Ronnie. “What is with the blood?! She barely hit his face! How is he coughing blood?! And why did you cough up blood, while we’re at it!”

“Don’t ask **useless** questions,” said Ronnie James, slurping a juice box filled with blood.

“WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU GET THAT JUICE BOX FRO—”

“REVENGE!”

Machoke slapped Torinoko out of the air. She squawked. Fortunately, she didn’t cough up even a milliliter of blood. Ivory was getting tired of blood.

“Sand Attack, again!” said Ivory. Torinoko quickly kicked up even more sand into Machoke’s eyes, and he recoiled, putting his hands to his face.

Ronnie posed fabulously. “Earthquake!”

Machoke screeched. The ground trembled, knocking Ivory off their feet. Torinoko was unaffected.

Ivory lied down suggestively, as if they wanted to be painted like a Kalosian girl. “Tackle!”

Torinoko zoomed straight into Machoke’s forehead.

Machoke fell to the tatami, unmoving. Ivory withdrew Torinoko.

Ronnie James made an impressed hum. “You’re good! Well, that’s my last Pokémon. You win.”

Ivory and Ronnie James bowed to each other in respect, and Ronnie James paid Ivory 768 Pokédollars.

Ivory put the money in their wallet and sighed.

A Battle Girl approached Ivory. She had bright blonde hair and intimidatingly muscular arms.

 “My name’s Amanda!” said the Battle Girl.

“I’m Ivory.”

“I saw you battling, and I think you’re really good! Wanna battle me?”

“Sure. This time, I’ll use Sasu, my Weedle.”

Amanda took out a Poké Ball. “Scraggy.”

They both bowed politely and let out their Pokémon.

“Poison Sting!” Ivory ordered.

Sasu shot a needle at Scraggy, who dodged it.

“Low Kick!”

Scraggy kicked Sasu’s butt, literally. He flew across the arena and landed near Ivory’s feet. They stepped back slightly as he got back up and honked in annoyance.

Ivory pointed. “String Shot!”

Sasu sprayed some silk at Scraggy. It barely slowed him down.

“Brick Break!” said Amanda.

Sasu dodged.

“Poison! STIIIING!”

Sasu stung Scraggy.

“Feint Attack,” whispered Amanda.

Scraggy tucked his arms into his… pants, and nonchalantly walked towards Sasu. He looked around the room innocently. Then, in one swift motion, he swung his arms out of his pants and bitchslapped Sasu.

Ivory tsked. “String Shot.”

Squeaking angrily, Sasu sprayed Scraggy with string.

“Low Kick!” said Amanda.

“Poison Sting!” said Ivory.

Scraggy got shot in the foot by Sasu, and he fell to the ground. He clutched his foot, hissing in pain while Sasu smugly spun around.

Amanda cringed. “Eh… Swagger.”

Scraggy slowly stood up. He smugly put his hands on his hips and—

“String Shot.”

Sasu sprayed him with string again, and he fell flat on his ass. Amanda facepalmed. Ivory smirked.

“Feint Attack?” said Amanda.

Scraggy didn’t move. Amanda waited a minute, and then begrudgingly withdrew him while Sasu hopped around proudly.

“Next, I’ll use Hawlucha,” she sighed.

Ivory nodded as they returned Sasu to his ball. “I’ll switch out for my Pikachu, Kokoro.”

The two of them threw their Poké Balls. Kokoro and Hawlucha both came out dramatically, screaming like protagonists from a cheesy animated show.

Kokoro posed coolly. Ivory posed too, but their coolness paled in comparison to hers. “Thunder Shock!”

Kokoro sent a huge bolt of electricity bounding at Hawlucha, who ducked under it.

“Aerial Ace!” said Amanda.

Hawlucha leaped towards Kokoro and scratched her cheek.

“PIKAAAA!” Kokoro squealed as loud as a jet engine. Hawlucha flinched.

“Quick Attack!”

Kokoro lunged at Hawlucha. In the blink of an eye, she bopped Hawlucha’s snout and giggled.

Hawlucha rubbed its bopped snout, glaring at Kokoro.

Amanda pointed finger guns at Hawlucha. “Fling!”

Hawlucha pulled a rock out of its fur and threw it directly into Kokoro’s forehead. She cried, both in the sense of “make a loud noise” and the sense of “sob.”

She moped her way over to Ivory’s leg. She grabbed them by the jeans and wailed.

“…What are you doing?” Ivory asked. They kneeled down.

Kokoro jumped, grabbed her Poké Ball from Ivory’s belt, and withdrew herself.

“Oh. Well… I guess I’ll switch out.” Ivory stood up and sighed. “It’s not the best matchup, but… next up is my Sandshrew, Sunamaru.”

“A Sandshrew?” Amanda laughed. “Well, let’s see how well Sunamaru does.”

Ivory sent out Sunamaru. He glared at Hawlucha with determination.

“Hone Claws!” said Amanda.

Hawlucha sharpened his claws swiftly, and then gave Sunamaru a smug look.

“Scratch!” said Ivory.

Sunamaru swung his claws wildly. Hawlucha stepped back and avoided his attack completely.

“Brick Break!”

Hawlucha punched Sunamaru in the forehead.

“Defense Curl!”

Sunamaru curled up pathetically.

“Aerial Ace!”

Hawlucha hesitated. He turned to Amanda, pointed at Sunamaru, and made an upset-sounding yelp.

Amanda blinked. “…What do you mean he’s ‘too cute to attack?!’ This is a battle! Just hit him!”

“Are you talking to your Pokémon…?” Ivory asked.

Hawlucha made a few more distressed cries. Then he sat down on the floor. He picked his teeth lazily, clearly having given up on the battle.

“You’re seriously not gonna battle? Even if, say, Ivory were to switch out?” Amanda asked.

Hawlucha nodded.

Amanda begrudgingly withdrew her Hawlucha. “…Well,” she growled, “I’m gonna use my Heracross next. Will you switch out?”

“Now I’ll take out my Gen—” Ivory paused. They remembered that Ghost types were immune to Fighting types. That wasn’t really fair. “…Um, is it OK if I use a Revive on one of my Pokémon? Just this once.”

Amanda grimaced. “Sure, I guess.”

 “Then I’ll use Tanesuke again!”

They got out Tanesuke and quickly gave him a Revive.

Amanda sent out her Heracross. “Let’s do this.”

“Leech Seed,” said Ivory.

Tanesuke’s bulb contracted, and he shot a bunch of seeds at the Heracross. The Heracross jumped out of the way, but a couple seeds still took root in her.

“Aerial Ace!”

In the blink of an eye, Heracross zoomed up to Tanesuke and smacked him in the face, leaving a dark green mark. Tanesuke yelped.

“Vine Whip!” said Ivory.

Tanesuke unfurled his vines and—

Amanda put her hands on her hips. “Brick Break.”

Heracross chopped Tanesuke’s side. He fell onto his side, quickly struggled back up, and smacked Heracross with a vine. She flinched.

“Tackle!” said Ivory.

“Rock Tomb!” said Amanda.

Heracross summoned a rock, and Tanesuke barreled into her side. She dropped it and fell.

Ivory smirked. Amanda bit her lip. “Aerial Ace!”

Clenching her side, Heracross pushed herself up and attacked. Tanesuke leapt back, but she still hit him.

“Vine Whip.”

Tanesuke’s whip sent the Heracross to the ground.

“Well,” Amanda sighed. “That’s three out of four…”

Tanesuke closed his eyes and tensed up, bowing his head down.

“Huh?” Ivory kneeled next to him. “Tanesuke, are you alright?”

He squinted at Ivory, and his body glowed with a rippling lime green light.

Ivory gasped. “No way…”

Tanesuke growled as his body changed shape. His ears lengthened, leaves grew from his bulb, and his legs became thicker and longer.

As quickly as it had started, the light disappeared.

Tanesuke sighed and smiled at Ivory. He had evolved into an Ivysaur.

Ivory squealed in happiness and instinctively bear-hugged him, crying from sheer happiness. He growled in surprise for a moment, and then relaxed, loosely wrapping a vine around Ivory’s torso. The two of them cuddled for a minute.

Eventually, Ivory let go and stood back up.

They wiped a few tears from their eyes. Amanda and a couple other people clapped politely. Ivory breathed.

Tanesuke chirped happily.

“I love you, buddy…” Ivory sniffled, feeling like they were going to cry again.

“Um…” They turned to Amanda. “I’m ready to continue. What are you bringing out next?”

She looked startled. “Oh! Ehm, I’ll be using my Poliwrath.”

Ivory smirked in unison with Tanesuke. “Bring it.”

“Let’s go, Ranito!” said Amanda, throwing a Poké Ball.

Tanesuke tensed up as a huge Poliwrath stood in front of him. Ranito was quite large for his species, standing over 5 feet tall! He was less of a “Ranito” and more of a “Ranón.”

Before Ivory could give a command, Amanda yelled, “Submission!”

Ranito ran to Tanesuke, grabbed him, and body-slammed him. Then, he stood up and stepped back, crossing his arms.

Tanesuke lay on his side. He had already fainted.

Ivory was speechless.

“How do ya like that?” Amanda giggled. “Well, that’s your second Pokémon down… out of six… Whatcha gonna switch out for?”

“…Sasu,” Ivory replied.

Sasu honked in raw, barely-tamed fury as he came out of his ball, and then squeaked in panic and fear as he saw Ranito looming above him.

At the same time that Amanda shouted, “Submission,” Ivory shouted, “Dodge! To the right!”

Sasu leapt away from Ranito’s attack. Ranito stumbled a bit, and then glared at Sasu.

 Ivory struck a pose. “Poison Sting!”

Sasu shot a needle at Ranito, piercing his side. He quickly pulled it out. Amanda smirked.

 “Rock Tomb!”

“Huh?!” Ivory watched with wide eyes as Ranito hurled a pile of rocks at Sasu, crushing him. He honked in pain, but didn’t faint.

 _‘Poliwraths can learn Rock Tomb?! I need to brush up on my Pokémon knowledge…_ ’ Ivory thought. Ranito stepped towards Sasu intimidatingly.

“String Shot!”

Sasu sprayed Ranito with string. He brushed it off and continued power-walking.

“Bubble Beam!”

Ranito assaulted Sasu with bubbles, bruising his face and side.

Ivory cringed. “Poison Sting!”

Sasu stung Ranito again. He didn’t even flinch.

“Just keep on using Bubble Beam, Ranito!” Amanda shouted.

Ranito continued to spray Sasu with bubbles over and over. Sasu squealed in agony. Ivory’s eyebrows came close together, and they bit their lip.

They were about to yell another command when Ranito paused, placing a hand on his side. He stumbled back, stiffened, and fell onto the floor. The poison had made him faint.

“Awesome job, Sasu~!” Ivory cried, throwing their arms up in the air.

Amanda recalled Ranito. “Hmph…”

Ivory grabbed Sasu’s Poké Ball, but all of a sudden he looked up and started spraying glowing string in the air. It cascaded around his body, enveloping him in yellow and white.

“You’ve gotta be kidding…” Ivory muttered.

Amanda raised her eyebrows. “Wow, two Pokémon evolving back to back? If I didn’t know any better, I would think this were some sort of cheesy scene from a mediocre fanfiction.”

Sasu encased himself in a bright yellow shell. He evolved into a Kakuna.

“Niiiice!” Ivory yelled, crossing their arms. They ran to Sasu’s side and rubbed his cocoon-covered head.

“Well, you won fair and square, so here you go.” Amanda gave Ivory 1000 Pokédollars and a kiss on the cheek. Ivory wasn’t attracted to girls, but they blushed anyway.

“Thank you,” they said. They and Amanda bowed to each other.

After returning Sasu to his ball, Ivory walked out of the Fighting Dojo with a satisfied smile. The sky looked like a grape and orange smoothie as the sun slowly set, and all of Saffron City was embraced by the twilight.

Ivory sighed softly at the beautiful view. “You know what, maybe I’ll spend the night in a hotel. I’ve got the money for it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI, that weird cashier wasn't a reference to anything, he's just a weird cashier, who seems to get some kind of pleasure out of being a cashier...


	8. What an Eventful Day!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, I take a fair amount of creative liberties with the way the Gyms work... And Ghost Pokemon, also, sort of (it'll make sense a few chapters down the line).

“Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center!”

“Hello.”

“We restore your tired Pokémon to full health. Would you like to rest your Pokémon?”

“Yes.”

“OK, I’ll take your Pokémon for a few seconds…”

Ivory handed the nurse their Poké Balls. She placed them on the device, which glowed with blue light. A cheery jingle played.

“Thank you for waiting. We’ve restored your Pokémon to full health.”

The nurse returned the Poké Balls to Ivory.

“We hope to see you again!” said the nurse as Ivory walked off. They looked at a nearby map for just a moment before exiting the Pokémon Center.

Ivory headed towards the nearest hotel. It was a very generic-looking building, with the only thing that made it stand out being a glowing sign that said in big letters, “SAFFRON GRAND HOTEL”.

On the inside, it had the same generic modern aesthetic. The lobby was wide, spacious, and very boring.

Ivory walked up to the counter.

“Hello,” said the receptionist.

“Hi, I’d like a room for tonight,” said Ivory.

 “One night costs 2000 Pokédollars,” said the receptionist. “This has to be paid up front. We accept cash, card, check, fax, and pacts made in human blood.”

Ivory got out 2000 Pokédollars from their wallet. “…Alright?”

They handed the money to the receptionist, who handed them a key card in return. “You’ll be staying at room 601. Be careful not to lose this key card, we don’t give out replacements. The wi-fi password is printed on the back.”

“Thank you.” Ivory nodded and walked over to the elevator.

Without any issue, they boarded it and headed up to the sixth floor. It was only a few short seconds before they were already out walking the halls, searching for their room.

Quickly, they found room 601. They hovered the keycard over the lock, which beeped and glowed green.

Ivory opened the door.

They were greeted by pure darkness. ~~~~

Ivory reached into the darkness and flicked on the light switch.

The hotel room was fairly small. Ivory could see almost the entire room just by standing in the doorway.

The floor was made of vinyl that was printed to look like wood planks. Directly to Ivory’s right was a matte gray countertop with a microwave and complementary stationery. In the center of the room was the bed, which had clean white sheets and white pillows on top of a jet black frame.

The wall directly across from Ivory was covered by curtains. They stepped forward and opened them, revealing a window spanning the whole length of the wall. Underneath the windowsill was an air conditioning unit.

Ivory turned and noticed a door next to the bed. As they opened it and flicked a nearby light switch, they discovered it led to the bathroom.

They turned the light off and closed the door. They didn’t need to use the bathroom right now.

They laid their bag at the foot of the bed and removed their jacket and pants. Then, they turned off the lights, jumped right into the bed, and got all comfy.

They closed their eyes.

Someone punched through the window. Glass scattered all over the floor.

Ivory jolted up and stumbled back. A person clad in white robes with a strange pattern was climbing in, not paying any mind to the broken glass that got stuck inside their bare feet as they stepped onto the floor.

“What the hell is with you guys?!” Ivory screamed. They dived to the foot of the bed and reached for their bag. Their hand touched the wood floor. The bag was gone.

“What?!” Ivory grit their teeth. They looked up just as the white-robed person threw a glowing crystal at them.

“AGH!” Ivory flung themself back.

They hit the headboard.

Ivory looked around. It was the early morning. The sun shone in through the sheer white curtains that covered the untouched window. “…Huh?”

As they put a hand against their chest, feeling their heartbeat as it slowly returned to normal, they realized they had just had a nightmare.

They sighed and wiped their forehead.

They took their belt out and released Tanesuke onto the rug. He looked up at them.

“Hey. I had a bad dream. Do you mind if I cuddle you a bit?” Ivory asked.

Tanesuke blinked. He made an affirmative growl, smiled, and stepped closer to Ivory while he lowered his head.

Ivory got down from the bed and hugged Tanesuke. A few vines popped out of his pink bulb and wrapped around Ivory. The two of them caressed each other tenderly.

With a deep breath, Ivory let go of Tanesuke. “Thanks.”

He smiled. They smiled back as they stood up.

“Well, I’m gonna go take a bath, so…” Ivory stepped halfway into the bathroom. “Behave yourself.” They shut the door.

They swiftly removed their clothes and stepped towards the bath. On the rim there were a few small bottles of shampoo and conditioner, as well as a small, circular piece of soap.

They turned the hot water knob. While the bathtub slowly filled, they looked at themself in the mirror.

They frowned at their reflection. Their lower eyelids were very dark and ached a little bit. Clearly, they needed some more sleep. And maybe it would be good if they shaved, too.

They turned around, turned off the hot water, and dipped their finger in the bath. Reflexively, they pulled out. It was too hot.

After letting the cold water flow for a little bit, Ivory entered the bath. It was at just the right temperature to make Ivory feel like they were melting into a sea of warmth. They lied down, leaving only their face above the water, their long hair floating in the water like a black Jellicent.

A loud knocking came from the door.

Ivory startled and sat up. That was a bit too loud to be Tanesuke. They covered themself with a few towels, picked up a hair dryer in case they had to use it as a weapon, and turned the doorknob.

A dark purple hand grabbed the door and swung it open. Some sort of hump-backed demon, colored with vibrant pinks, purples, and greens, came shambling inside the bathroom.

Screaming, Ivory threw the hair dryer at the demon, and then they ran next to it and started punching it furiously. Somehow, the demon’s humpback fell off.

A cold mouth tugged at Ivory’s ankle. They turned around with the force of a raging wind and smacked Tanesuke in the face.

“Wait, Tanesuke?!”

Ivory turned back and looked at the demon.

“…Tama?! What the hell is going on here?!”

Rubbing his head, Tama said, “We were thinking of pranking you… And now I’m seriously regretting that.”

“Oh, that makes sense—” Ivory was speechless for a second. “Wait, hold up, did you just _talk?!_ ”

“Uh, yeah? …Most Ghost Pokémon can talk,” said Tama.

“Huh. So…” Ivory took a moment to process this. “Can you understand what Tanesuke is saying when he growls? Is that how you got him to join in your prank?”

Tama laughed a deep belly laugh, smacking his knee. “No, of course not! I just explained my plan to him in plain Kantonian, and he seemed to wanna go along with it.”

“Ah,” Ivory said, feeling enlightened. They nodded.

“You’re really ignorant about Ghost types for a Trainer of one,” said Tama.

Ivory rubbed the back of their neck in embarrassment. “I was a sheltered kid. Honestly, I’ve seen more Pokémon in person over the last few days than I have during the rest of my life. Now, can I get back to my bath?”

“Oh! Uh…” Tama blushed a bright pink. “Of course, Master! My apologies!”

“My name is—” Ivory was cut off by Tama swiftly grabbing Tanesuke and fleeing the bathroom. He slammed the door shut behind him.

With a tired, somewhat confused sigh, Ivory got back into the bath.

They picked up the bottle of shampoo and squeezed a heaping portion into their left hand. They started lathering up their hair. It took a while because of how long it was, but eventually all of their black locks were filled with white suds.

Taking a deep breath, they dunked their head into the water and scrubbed their hair angrily. The shampoo clouded the water.

Swiftly, they brought their head back up. They turned toward the soap begrudgingly. They slowly picked it up and closed their eyes.

They washed their body quickly and quietly. With a groan, they got out of the bath.

After wrapping themself in towels, Ivory picked up the hairdryer from the floor, dried their hair, and left the bathroom.

Tama was sleeping on the bed, snoring like a Snorlax. Tanesuke was covering his ears with his vines. As he noticed Ivory, he yowled at them pleadingly.

Plugging their ears, Ivory nodded. They sifted through their clothes, got out Tama’s Poké Ball, and withdrew him.

Tanesuke sighed. He looked at them with a tiny smile, which they returned.

“How did he even get out of his Poké Ball in the first place?” Ivory wondered.

Tanesuke gasped and looked away. Mareepishly, he pointed at himself.

“Wait, _you_ let him out?” Ivory asked.

Tanesuke nodded.

Ivory looked at him for a moment. He had a really awkward look on his face, and was staring at the foot of the bed. “…Why?”

He shrugged.

“Well, whatever. Nothing happened except you and Tama scaring the piss out of me. I’m gonna get dressed, and then let’s go to Vermilion Gym.”

And so Ivory got dressed. They gathered their things, double checked to make sure they didn’t forget anything, and then left the hotel room. Then, they entered the elevator, went down to the first floor, returned the keycard to the front desk, and exited the building.

It was a bright day in Saffron City, and Ivory was ready to take on the Saffron Gym.

They and Tanesuke strolled down to the Gym and walked inside, entering a dark, neon-lit room. It looked like an auditorium, with high walls arranged in a large rounded rectangle. There was a raised platform on the far end of the room, upon which was a velvety-looking sofa. A young woman was sitting on the sofa and absent-mindedly eating a bar of chocolate, her eyes closed.

Ivory approached the woman. “Hello—”

“WAH!” The woman startled and nearly dropped her chocolate. “G—greetings, Ivory Kuroi! I am Sabrina.”

Sabrina’s eyes opened. “I knew you were coming! I had a vision of your arrival… I have had psychic powers since I was a child. It started when a spoon I carelessly tossed…” She clenched her fist dramatically. “… _bent._ ”

“Cool,” said Ivory. “I’m here to battle.”

“I dislike battling,” said Sabrina.

“Oh. Okay.”

“But if you wish,” she continued, “I will show you my powers!”

“No, actually, I’m fine. I don’t wanna battle if you don’t,” said Ivory.

Sabrina blinked. “Oh… Well, alright, then. Uh.”

She handed Ivory a yellow, circular Badge. “…I will give you the Marsh Badge.” Then, she went back to eating her chocolate.

“Cool, thanks!” Ivory put the Badge in their Badge Case, bowed politely (Tanesuke bowed politely too), and promptly left the Gym.

“Well that was anticlimactic,” they said. Tanesuke shrugged.

“HEY! HERETIC!” a passerby said.

“Huh?” Ivory glanced over and dodged a flying Mentis Crystal. “Holy shit! You guys again?!”

A bunch of people dressed in ornate white robes were standing around the corner, leering at Ivory. One of them shouted, “THAT GYM BATTLE DIDN’T TAKE VERY LONG! DID YA FORFEIT, YA WUSSY?!”

Ivory took out their Badge Case. “No, I got the Marsh Badge,” they smiled. Then, they took out their Mentis Crystal, removing a glove. “…Not that that’s any of your business.”

They threw the Mentis Crystal, and it hit another crystal in midair. The two crystals fell to the ground, quickly losing their glows. Ivory dashed forward, grabbed both of the crystals, stuffed them in their bag, and ran away at top speed.

“HOW DARE YOU, HERETIC!” the cultists screeched as they took chase.

“Don’t you guys know any other words besides ‘heretic’?!” Ivory taunted as they ran down a crowded street, towards the Silph Co. HQ.

“THIEF! THIEF! THIEF!” the cultists began to shout.

“Oh, so you do~!” Ivory dashed into an alley, threw open a dumpster, and hid inside. It smelled horrible, and it felt like their left elbow was being pressed into a half-decayed corpse, but at least they were hidden.

Something banged against the side of the dumpster. Ivory heard a wailing sound.

_‘Oh shit, Tanesuke! I forgot about him!’_

Ivory kicked the dumpster open and jumped out. They came face to face with the ravenous rabble. “…Yo!”

The cultists gave an ear-splittingly loud war cry and charged towards Ivory.

Tanesuke leaped in front of Ivory and shot a white mist from his bulb at the crowd. Within seconds, they all passed out.

Ivory stood there for a moment, breathing heavily. “Holy shit, holy shit…” They clutched their chest.

They dashed out of the alley and ran away.

Ivory fled through the southern gate to Saffron City and squatted on the stairs. They looked out at Route 6. It was a small path connecting Saffron City and Vermilion City, with a small pond surrounded by grass.

After getting up, walking through Route 6, and evading the few wild Pokémon, Ivory arrived in Vermilion City. They put their glove back on and nonchalantly strolled down the seaside sidewalks.

“Jeez, today has been surprisingly eventful, huh…” Ivory noted. “It couldn’t hurt to make it even more eventful. Let’s go to Vermilion Gym!”

Tanesuke groaned.

“Yeah, maybe that’s a bit of a bad idea. But I don’t care! I’m feeling good! I’m excited! I just survived getting attacked by an angry mob! What the fuck has my life become?!”

They almost fell onto the pavement and started punching the ground, but they didn’t because they still had some sense of dignity.

They sat on a bench next to the shore. They got out a bag of trail mix and laid it next to Tanesuke. Then, they got out a bag of jerky and lazily started eating it.

The two of them ate for a couple minutes. The sound of the gentle waves of the sea served as a nice ambience.

Chewing on a piece of Tauros jerky, Ivory reconsidered their life choices. Well, more specifically, they reconsidered their choice of picking up that Mentis Crystal in Viridian Forest. They wondered if there was any way they could make Mentis’s cult stop hating them—and on that note, they wondered just what that cult _did,_ anyway.

 _‘Am I ever gonna find out who Mentis is?’_ they wondered as they swallowed their jerky. They put the half-empty bag into their courier bag.

“Well… _Do_ you want to go to Vermilion Gym?” Ivory asked. “We’ll have to do it sometime.”

Tanesuke looked up from his trail mix, swallowed, and nodded.

“OK.” Ivory put away Tanesuke’s trail mix. They got up, and the two of them started walking to the Gym. It wasn’t hard to find—the Gyms in any city were purposefully designed to be as eye-catching as possible.

Vermilion Gym, for some reason, was oddly familiar to Ivory. They thought about it for a moment, gazing upon the tacky lightning-themed building, when they remembered they had seen it on an episode of _Trainer Nightmares!_ Ah, Ivory felt a bit nostalgic as they remembered seeing Rordon Gamsey chewing out Lieutenant Surge for forcing people to sift through his trash, which was not only unsanitary, but very humiliating.

After that episode, Vermilion Gym had gotten a complete overhaul. The old puzzle system was thrown out and not given any replacement, allowing Trainers to walk right in and challenge Surge directly. Not long afterwards, Surge punched an eleven-year-old Trainer in a fit of rage, and then had a full-fledged mental breakdown. Ivory remembered seeing this on the news, but they were a little kid at the time, so they didn’t know much about it. They knew that after that whole debacle, Surge officially resigned from his position as Gym Leader, and he was replaced by some boy who liked to train at Vermilion Gym.

“Rowr!” Tanesuke growled. Ivory snapped back to reality. Tanesuke was standing in front of the door and looking expectantly at them.

“Right, I’m coming!” Ivory stepped forward and entered the Gym.

Inside, the Gym was surprisingly dark. Ivory cautiously stepped forward.

A pair of spotlights shone down on Ivory. They flinched, covering their eyes. The spotlights stayed focused on them like they were an actor in a play.

Lowering their arms, Ivory curiously walked further into the Gym while the spotlights followed them. They went up a small set of stairs and headed onto a narrow walkway, constricted by a pair of railings.

The walkway went on for a couple dozen meters and then led to a large, circular stage. A shadowy figure was standing in the middle of it, but it was too dark to see exactly what it was.

The spotlights all pointed away from Ivory and focused on a Unovan kid in a garish outfit. He was spinning around in a navy blue tuxedo and a cape as white as a Vanillite. His hair was styled into deep azure spikes, just as pointy as his teeth, which were bared as he laughed maniacally.

“Ahahahaha! Welcome, challenger, to the Gym of Horton Jonathans!”

Ivory blinked. “…Hi?”

Horton Jonathans slowed down, so as to gaze at Ivory dramatically while spinning. “I, Horton Jonathans, shall show you the true power of Electr—” He fell on his face, making a horribly loud crack.

“AGH!” He stood up, and blood flew out from his broken nose. “Fuck! Son of a Stoutland…”

He groaned. Putting a hand over his face, he said, “I. Horton Jonathans, have gotta get this bandaged… But first, you and I, Horton Jonathans, let’s battle!”

“Really?” Ivory asked. “Your nose looks pretty bad. You should treat it first—”

“No, no! I, Horton Jonathans, am fine!” He snapped his fingers, rifled around in his cape, and got out a Potion. He pointed at himself, sprayed, and screamed. “SEE?!”

“…If you say so,” Ivory shrugged.

They pointed half-dramatically, half-concernedly. “Let’s go, Tanesuke!”

With his free hand, Horton pulled out a Poké Ball from his snow-white cape and threw it gracefully. “Electrode!”

Tanesuke and the Electrode faced each other.

“SELF DESTRUCT!” Horton commanded.

“WAIT WHA—”

Electrode exploded beautifully. Within an instant, Tanesuke was completely knocked out, and Ivory’s ears and eyes were overloaded with overwhelmingly gigantic amounts of sound and light.

Just as quick as it began, the explosion was over. Ivory’s ears were ringing, and their vision was covered in blotches.

They withdrew Tanesuke. “Arceus Christ…”

Horton threw another Poké Ball. “Electrode Jr.!”

“Shit, another…?!” Ivory reluctantly tossed a Poké Ball. “Sasu!”

Sasu came out and glared at Electrode Jr. aggressively. Then, with wide eyes, he turned around and made an incredulous squeak, which was slightly muffled from his cocoon.

Ivory sighed. “Yeah, I know you’re not gonna make it—”

“SELF DESTRUCT!” Horton yelled again.

As firmly as possible, Ivory covered their ears and closed their eyes. It barely helped muffle the loudness—and Ivory was fairly sure they were going to become hard of hearing—but it certainly blocked out the light.

Sure enough, when Ivory opened their eyes, Sasu was lying limp on the floor. They withdrew him.

“Electrode III!” Horton cried as he threw yet another Poké Ball.

“Wait,” said Ivory. “Are… Are _all_ of your Pokémon Electrode?”

“Maaaaaaybe,” Horton said playfully. “…SELF—”

“WAIT I HAVEN’T EVEN SENT OUT A POKÉMON YET!” Ivory protested.

“Oh, right. Well get one out then!”

Ivory begrudgingly dropped a Poké Ball on the ground. “Torinoko. Just take this hit for me, please.”

“SELF DESTRUCT!”

Torinoko barely had time to look around before getting vaporized. Ivory withdrew her, pinched the bridge of their nose, and sighed.

“Now, it’s time for Horton Jonathans’s _fourth_ and _final_ Pokémon…” Horton sneakily pulled out a Poké Ball. “Electrode Mk. 4!”

Ivory just picked a random Poké Ball and threw it on the ground like a wet paper towel. Sunamaru came out, and—“EXPLOSION!”—fainted instantly.

“Weeeee~ll,” Horton said. “It looks like I, Horton Jonathans, am all out of Pokémon… but you, challenger, still have two left. I, Horton Jonathans, suppose that means that you win.”

He fished around in his cape for a bit and then pulled out a spiky badge. “So, I, Horton Jonathans, shall give you the Thunder Badge!”

“Cool, thank you.” Ivory bowed slightly, just barely lowering their torso.

They left the Gym.

“…Well,” they sighed. “I guess I’ll go to Celadon next. I dunno. Maybe I’ll train Tama first…”


	9. TM Shopping

Ivory was really starting to get tired of the music they played at Pokémon Centers. As they waited in a small line, they idly wondered how many times an average Trainer would have to visit one. Probably at least once a day, assuming they regularly get into battles. But more likely it would be twice or even thrice, since Centers were so essential to navigation and trading.

The line moved forward, and Ivory remembered reading somewhere that the journey of an average Kantonian Pokémon Trainer lasted a month. That’s 30 days. That’s at least sixty visits to a Pokémon Center. Sixty times hearing the annoyingly cheery music they’re constantly playing. Sixty times hearing the jingle of the healing machine.

Ivory was seriously starting to empathize with Tanesuke.

Soon enough, they were at the front of the line. They had their Pokémon healed as quickly as possible and jogged out of the Center.

Without hesitation, they set about walking north. They walked all the way through Vermilion City, went past Route 5 into Saffron City, and then walked west until they finally were at Celadon. Their nerves were acting up just a little bit—that ambush from the cult still had Ivory sorta shaken—but everything was fine.

The sun was shining in the middle of the sky. It was high noon.

Ivory walked over to the Celadon Gym and paused in front of the door.

_‘Three Gyms in one day…’_ Ivory thought. _‘I wonder if that’s common. Kanto’s a pretty small region. Someone’s probably done this before.’_

They went forward a step, and then paused again. _‘Wait, I just remembered. I oughta teach some new moves to Tama…’_

So then they went to the Celadon Department Store. The exterior of the store had a modern aesthetic, walls covered in glass that looked like huge mirrors. Near the very top of the building was a white logo shaped like half a Poké Ball on top of an azure background.

Ivory went through an automatic door and saw that the interior was quite spacious. Though the ceilings weren’t particularly tall, there was a lot of floor space and plenty of escalators that led to higher floors. Ivory stepped onto an escalator and went up to the third floor, where all the TMs were kept.

The floor was dotted by shelves, which were filled with TM cases of bright colors that represented the type of move they taught.

Ivory’s attention was grabbed by a shiny purple case. As they picked it up, they read the name. “Shadow Ball…  I think that’s a pretty good move.”

They turned the case around, looked at the list of compatible Pokémon, and as they expected, Gengar was one of them.

They stuck the case under their armpit and looked further at the displays. They squinted, trying to find one that would be perfect. Preferably, they would want a move that had high PP, maybe one that gave a status effect, definitely one with high power…

“Are you finding everything OK?” an employee asked, apparating from the void.

“Uoh!” Ivory startled. “Y—Yes…”

“Great!” The employee bowed politely and returned to the realm from whence they came.

With a clenched jaw and furrowed brow, Ivory resumed browsing. They sifted through the TMs, and a shiny yellow case caught their eye. They picked it up and hummed.

_‘Thunder? I could teach this to Kokoro…’_ Just to make sure, Ivory looked at the list of compatible Pokémon on the back of the jewel case.

Sure enough, Pikachu was on there, but there was one other species name that they noticed. One that made them gasp and widen their eyes.

“…Gengar can learn Thunder, too?!”

A couple other shoppers turned around from the volume that Ivory yelled at, but they all quickly went back to shopping.

Stunned, Ivory put the Thunder TM under their armpit with the Shadow Ball one.

_‘I think I’m fine with just these two,’_ Ivory thought and walked over to the checkout counter.

A bored-looking man was sitting there and filing his nails. He barely glanced up at Ivory. “Hi, thank you for shopping at Celadon Department Store, I’ll check out your…” His eyes opened wide. “…items…”

“…Wait, you’re that one shopper, right? Back in Cerulean… At the shop I got fired from yesterday…” The cashier licked his lips.

Ivory frowned in confusion at him. Then, they gasped. “Oh, shit…”

“Lucky for you, I’m the only cashier available on this floor~. Everyone else is on _lunch brea~k!_ ” He leaned back and cackled as Ivory stared on in horror.

“I derive my greatest pleasure from checking out items…” The cashier took a deep breath and leaned in. “I hope you’ve brought plenty of stuff to buy.”

With trembling hands, Ivory silently placed the two TMs on the counter. The cashier frowned. “That’s it? This is even the same number as last time. Two items here, two items there…”

“Please just ring them up already,” said Ivory.

“OK, sweetie.” The cashier winked. “For you…”

With a sort of demented grace, the cashier swiped the Thunder TM over the barcode scanner. It beeped, and he moaned in ecstasy. Ivory cringed.

The cashier took in a deep breath and then swiped the Shadow Ball TM. He moaned even louder, almost screaming. He hunched over and shuddered violently.

With heavy-lidded eyes, he gazed up at the register.

“Your total isss…” The cashier drew out the ‘s’ into an Ekans-like hiss. “6 Pokédollars! It normally would be 60,000 Pokédollars, but I’m giving you an extra special discount.” He pouted at Ivory.

Ivory couldn’t bring themself to speak. Their glottis closed up, and their whole body stiffened.

“Well, are you going pay?”

Robotically, Ivory reached into their pocket, pulled out their wallet, and placed a couple bills on the counter. The cashier picked them up greedily. His face scrunched up, and his knees buckled. “Ooh! Ah, hah, hhhahhhhh… Thank you for shopping a—”

Ivory stuffed the TMs into their bag and sprinted away, shouting, “Ew! Ew! Ew! Gross! Gross! Gross!”

They launched themself outside, hunched over, and dry heaved violently.

“Hey, excuse me! You with the dumb hair and beanie!” someone yelled.

Ivory turned around. “Eh?”

A police officer came walking up to Ivory like her shit didn’t stink and pointed her finger in their face. “Excuse me, you are under arrest!”

“Huh?! What do you mean?” Ivory asked.

“You’re guilty of… some crimes,” said the officer. Her eyes glazed over for a split second. “Come on and follow me, I need to teach you a lesson.”

Ivory squinted. In a few swift motions, they whipped off a glove, grabbed a Mentis Crystal from their bag, and threw it at the officer. “…No, I don’t think so.”

The crystal entered the officer’s head and collided with another crystal.

_‘You’ve gotta be kidding me, they’ve resorted to mind-controlling the police?!’_ Ivory thought.

_‘Yes, we have! We’re controlling more people than you could ever imagine! The Crystal Order has sunk its tentacles deep into the peasant population! You’re going down, Ivory!’_ someone else thought.

Ivory was speechless. Or rather, thoughtless. _‘…Wait what?’_

_‘…PFAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh man, you’re so clueless! Don’t you realize that we can see each other’s thoughts because our crystals are making extended contact?’_

Ivory was surprised for just a moment, but then they focused with determination. _‘That makes sense. I’m still kind of a newbie at this, you see…’_

They focused all of their attention on the energy in their Mentis Crystal. They willed it forward, and it slammed into the other one.

_‘Are you seriously trying to push me out of her head?’_ the cultist—who Ivory somehow knew was named Unin Portant—mocked. _‘By the way, Mx. Kuroi, I’m not a cultist. (Such an ugly word…) I’m a servant of Mentis, the most powerful being in all of existe—’_

With a wet, yet crunchy splurt, the officer’s skull burst open, and the two Mentis Crystals spilled out onto the sidewalk (accompanied by some blood). Some bystanders stopped and screamed. Ivory just smirked. _‘Monologuing: the easiest way to get defeated. You oughta keep that in mind, Mrs. Portant.’_

The two crystals radiated their energies into the air, and soon they were completely dry. Ivory ran forward, snatched the crystals, and ran away with them while everyone was distracted by the officer. _‘Now I’ve got three crystals… I don’t really have a use for them, but it’s better for_ me _to have them instead of the_ cultists _!’_

Ivory sprinted up to a street corner and then casually strolled away to the west. They went through the gate to Route 7.

Sighing, Ivory squatted on the grass, removed the Shadow Ball TM from its case, and released Tama.

He looked around curiously, and then turned to face Ivory. “…Why’d ya bring me out?”

“I’m gonna try and teach you this TM!” Ivory smiled.

Tama’s ears twitched. “Oh. That’s it?”

“Well, I actually have two TMs I wanna teach you, but I’m gonna start off with this.”

“Alright…”

Ivory leaned forward and pressed the TM against Tama’s cheek. “Uh… Let’s see, it, uh…” they muttered.

 “You don’t know how to apply a TM, do you?” Tama chuckled.

“Just gimme a sec,” said Ivory.

Tama groaned. “Y’know, there’s a manual inside the case.”

“There is?” Ivory got the case back out from their bag, and sure enough, there was a small, folded-up piece of paper tucked inside, labelled “INSTRUCTIONS”. “…Oh.”

Ivory unfolded the instructions. They glanced at Tama. “How’d you know it was in there?”

“Uh!” He was silent for a split second. “Because I saw it.”

“…The case was in my bag?”

“I mean, I saw it when you opened it up.”

Ivory’s brow creased. “…I took you out _after_ getting out the TM. The case was already closed.”

Tama stammered. “Ah—well—I mean, you see, I actually had a Trainer before, and he used a TM on me, so that’s how I know.”

“You literally don’t have any TM moves, though.” Ivory held up the TM. “That’s the whole reason why I got this. Your moveset is awful right now.”

Tama’s mouth pursed shut and his eyes bugged out like he had eaten a particularly sour Nomel Berry. He stared at Ivory. “…I forgot the move, OK?!”

“If you say so…” Ivory muttered. “Anyway, let’s get to teaching you this.”

“Right,” said Tama.

Ivory began reading the instructions out loud.

“Ahem… To all Pokémon Trainers wishing to use TMs: We here at Silph Co. give you our best wishes; we want nothing more than to allow you and your Pokémon the joy of extending your Pokémon’s moveset to the fullest. Two asterisks. If you have any questions or complaints, please direct them to… Uh, OK, wait, where’s the stuff I actually care about…”

They turned the paper around as they searched for the actual instructions. “Uh… OK, here. One: Carefully remove the Technical Machine® disc from the case. Already done that… Two: If you have not done so already, summon the Pokémon to whom you wish to apply the Technical Machine®. Remove the chip from the surface of the Technical Machine® disc and place it upon the head of the Pokémon. The chip should be adhesive, so there is no need to worry about making it stick.”

Ivory squinted at the page. “The chip…?”

“Pretty sure that’s the little square-shaped thing.” Tama pointed to a spot on the TM. Ivory looked closely and noticed a tiny discolored place on the disc. They picked at it, and it peeled off like a piece of tape. It was quite thin and had a slight orange tint.

“Ah. Alright, time to apply it,” Ivory said. “Stay still…”

Slowly, Ivory pressed the chip to Tama’s forehead. They gingerly let up their finger, and the chip stuck. “Good!”

They looked back at the instructions. “OK. Three: Press the Technical Machine® disc together with the chip. The Technical Machine® disc should begin to glow. This signifies that the Pokémon is learning the move of the Technical Machine®. If no glowing occurs, the Pokémon is likely incompatible with the Technical Machine®. Silph Co. takes no responsibility for Trainers buying Technical Machine® discs incompatible with their Pokémon. We at Silph Co. advise Trainers to be aware of two things: the movepool of their Pokémon, and the fact that we have a very well-trained and well-paid team of lawyers; any attempt at suing us is unwise.”

“That’s Silph Co. for ya,” Tama scoffed. “So condescending…”

Ivory ignored his comment. “Now, hold still again.” They pushed the TM against Tama’s head. It started glowing, and he gasped.

The TM glowed for a few seconds, and then stopped. Tama blinked as Ivory pulled it away.

“That was…” He paused. He took a deep breath. “… _incredibly_ weird.”

“Feel like you’ve learned a new move?”

“…Yeah. ‘Shadow Ball’… A Ghost-type move. Fairly powerful. I do it by summoning a blob of pure darkness and hurling it at the enemy.”

“Good!” Ivory smiled.

Tama blushed. He shyly scratched his cheek. “Thanks, Master…”

 “Call me Ivory.”

“Yes, Ivory.”

“Anyway, now let’s teach you…” Ivory fished around in their bag. “…Thunder!”

Quickly and calmly, Ivory repeated the process of putting the chip on Tama, pressing the TM to the chip, and having it glow.

Tama shook his head a bit. “Still feels super weird…”

“Think you feel good enough to battle?” Ivory asked.

“Huh?”

“I’m about to go challenge the Celadon Gym,” said Ivory, putting away the TMs. “Do you think you could fight today?”

Tama shrugged. “Yeah, why couldn’t I?”

“Great!” Ivory quickly recalled Tama, picked up their bag, and headed back over to Celadon Gym.

_‘I’m not gonna get lucky like I did back in Saffron. I gotta be on my top game!’_

Not bothering to focus on how the exterior looked, they entered the Gym with some swagger in their step.


	10. Why did it have to be labyrinths?

The first thing that Ivory noticed about Celadon Gym was the plants. The place was absolutely covered with plants, from ferns to bushes to trees to even a couple Torterra, greenery completely filled the Gym!

The second thing they noticed was all the glass. It had a lot of glass walls and a glass ceiling like a greenhouse.

The third thing that Ivory noticed was a small sign saying: “Somewhere hidden within this labyrinth of plants is the Gym Leader Erika… Prove yourself worthy! Tread the labyrinth!”

“What the fuck?” Ivory uttered.

They looked around, wondering if this was some sort of prank. Perhaps they had unwittingly stepped onto the set of a variety TV show…

But no matter how hard they looked, they couldn’t find any hidden cameras or anything, so they were forced to accept that this was the Gym. For some reason, the Gym had an Arceus-damned labyrinth in it.

Ivory didn’t exactly have the best spatial skills, but it seemed they had no choice but to enter the maze.

So, they walked forward.

And they immediately got hopelessly lost.

In just a few minutes, they already had no idea where they were, where they were going, and whether they were just going in a loop. Everything looked the same. Each corridor was crowded with plants that were indistinguishable to Ivory.

Something tapped on Ivory’s boot. They looked down.

“Oh! An Oddish?”

The Oddish was smiling at Ivory and gently swaying its leaves from side to side.

Ivory kneeled down and looked the Oddish in the eyes. “Excuse me, but could you please show me the way to the Gym Leader?”

The Oddish nodded.

Nothing happened.

“…Well? I’m waiting,” said Ivory.

The ground began to rumble. The Oddish grinned widely.

“Huh?” Ivory looked around. “It feels like an earthquake’s happening…”

The ground trembled violently, knocking Ivory over. “Ah!”

A bulge grew in the soil. The Oddish ran away. At this point, the ground was lurching up and down, quaking loudly.

A girl in a kimono burst out from the ground like a volcanic eruption, launching herself so high she almost hit the ceiling, and then landed gracefully.

“My name is Erika,” she said. “I am the Celadon City Gym Leader. Are you here to challenge me?”

Ivory stood up. “…Yes.”

“Very well, but I will defeat…” Erika patted her kimono and paused.

“…Wait, crap, I don’t have any Pokémon on me. Uhh, wait here.”

Erika ran away.

Mildly confused, Ivory plopped their ass onto the dirt and decided to check the movesets of their Pokémon while they waited.

Torinoko had some new moves: Gust and Quick Attack.

Ivory immediately grinned and put down their Pokédex, not even bothering to look at their other Pokémon. They were pretty sure they could have Torinoko carry this entire battle.

A few boring minutes passed before Erika came running back, holding a small pile of Poké Balls in her hands.

“How many badges do you have?” she asked.

“Four,” said Ivory.

“Alright, uh…” Erika put away all but three Poké Balls. “I shall use these.”

“I shall start with…” Erika threw her first Poké Ball. “Victreebel!”

“Torinoko!”

“Stun Spore!”

Victreebel emitted a cloud of spores.

“Gust!”

Torinoko blew the Stun Spores away.

Ivory continued with, “Quick Attack!”

Torinoko zoomed at Victreebel. She struck her so hard she was knocked back to the ground.

“Acid!”

Victreebel projectile vomited a huge toxic glob that landed on Torinoko’s face. She screeched and made a nosedive.

“TORINOKO!” Ivory yelled. “Sand Attack!”

Torinoko flailed around on the ground, kicking up some sand. Victreebel wailed and covered her eyes. Meanwhile, Torinoko managed to wipe off the acid from her own eyes.

“Quick Attack!” said Ivory.

Torinoko made another confident strike at Victreebel. Victreebel fainted.

“My, how impressive,” said Erika. She withdrew Victreebel calmly.

“I knew you could do it, Torinoko!” Ivory smiled.

“I will be using my Tangela for the next round,” said Erika. “Shall you switch out?”

“Nah.”

Erika nodded. “Very well. Go, Tangela!”

She threw her Poké Ball, and out came Tangela, ready to fight.

“Tackle!” said Ivory.

“Giga Drain!” said Erika.

Tangela smacked Torinoko with a tentacle and drained her of energy.

Torinoko fainted instantly.

“Oh!” Ivory uttered. They slouched over in disappointment.

“Well…” They recalled Torinoko and threw out a new Pokémon. “Go, Sasu!”

“Constrict!” Erika commanded.

Tangela wrapped Sasu in her tentacle-vines. She squeezed him tight, making a loud, noticeable crack.

“Poison Sting!”

Sasu shot a poisonous needle into Tangela’s viny depths. She winced, but didn’t let go.

“Giga Drain!” Erika commanded.

Tangela’s tentacles glowed as they began to suck the life right out of Sasu’s body. He squealed. Tangela and Erika smiled in unison.

“Harden!” said Ivory.

The chitin of Sasu’s cocoon shone, growing harder.

“Ingrain!”

Tangela removed one of her tentacles from Sasu, aimed it at the ground, and started pushing a seed out of it.

“Poison Sting!”

Sasu stung Tangela. Her seed fell to the ground, and so did she, accidentally releasing him.

Sasu clunked as he hit the ground. Tangela quickly sat up. Ivory smirked.

Tangela slowly walked forward.

“Constrict!”

“Poison Sting!”

Sasu shot yet another poisonous needle, piercing one of Tangela’s tentacles. She recoiled slightly, but managed to wrap him up and squeeze him again.

Ivory bit their lip. “Harden!”

Sasu hardened, resisting Tangela’s force.

“Constriiiict!”

Tangela squeezed harder. Sasu shut his eyes tight.

“One more time, Poison Sting!”

Sasu stung Tangela. She blinked, dropped Sasu, and fell over.

Tangela fainted. Erika recalled her without a word.

“That was close…” Ivory sighed. _‘I really oughta teach Sasu some new moves too. His tiny moveset nearly cost me the match.’_

Erika threw her final Poké Ball. “Go, Vileplume!”

Her Vileplume was cute, yet intimidating. Though she had a round face, her beady red eyes showed unmistakable bloodlust.

Ivory mentally steeled themself. Surely, the last of Erika’s Pokémon would also be the strongest.

“Acid!”

“Poi—uh…” Ivory hesitated, staring at Vileplume.

Vileplume pulled out a multi-colored tablet and put it on her tongue. She sat down as her eyes widened greatly.

Erika choked. “No, not _that_ acid—! …Ah, whatever…”

Befuddled, Sasu glanced at Ivory. They shrugged. Vileplume continued to sit there.

“Oh…” Erika withdrew Vileplume. “I concede defeat. I must confer on you the Rainbow Badge…”

She gave Ivory a badge that looked like a flower with rainbow petals, followed by 2900 Poké Dollars. They bowed. “Thank you.”

Ivory turned around, walked a few steps, and then stopped. “Uh…”

They looked back at Erika. “Could you maybe lead me back to the entrance?”


	11. Confusing

Ivory was walking down Route 16. Having finished Celadon Gym, the only Gyms left were Fuchsia Gym and Seafoam Islands Gym. Fuchsia was closer, so they were heading there.

They were a bit excited, but for reasons unrelated to the Gym. Between Routes 16 and 17 was Cycling Road, whose name was an incredibly apt description. It was a road, meant for cycling. Bicycling, to be specific. Ivory had heard of it and always wanted to go on it, but they had never gotten an opportunity to go down it until today.

Ivory entered the station at the start of Cycling Road.

“Hello, welcome to Cycling Road!” said the person at the desk. “This route is dedicated to cycling only, so you may not proceed without a bicycle. If you don’t have a bicycle, you can rent one with the machine there for just 500 Pokédollars.”

They pointed at a nearby bike rack, filled with a couple dozen bright orange bikes, each with a basket mounted on the handlebars. The bikes were connected to the rack with locks that had large slits on the front, clearly for depositing bills. ~~~~

Ivory got out their wallet. “OK, I’ll rent one.” They inserted a bill into the lock, got out the bike, mounted it, and started riding it down the road.

Hardly two seconds later, the bike toppled over and they ate shit into the grass. “OW!”

_‘That’s right,’_ they thought, sitting up. _‘I don’t know how to ride a bike…’_

They ended up walking the rest of the way, dragging the bike beside them. They left the bike at the station at the other end, and then walked through the short Route 18 to arrive at Fuchsia City.

Ivory immediately made their way to the Gym. It was built in the style of traditional Kantonian architecture, with sloped tiled roofs and wooden walls. The only modern part of it was the huge neon Gym logo hanging above the doorway.

Ivory slid open the shoji doors and stepped inside.

They paused. The room was large and empty, except for various identical-looking girls standing around. They all had spiky purple hair, fuchsia scarves, and poofy black pants.

“Um…” Ivory bowed slightly. “Hello?”

All the girls spun on their heels and stared at Ivory. They felt quite intimidated, and any words they might have spoken were crushed under the glare of the girls.

“Welcome,” the girls spoke in unison, “to the Fuchsia Gym.”

They posed dramatically. “One of us is Janine, the poisonous ninja master…”

They posed again. “…and the rest are all in disguise!”

“Well? Take a guess!” The girls all put their hands on their hips and smirked. Ivory blinked.

They raised their hand weakly. “Uh… Ehm…”

They pointed at one girl randomly.

A cloud of smoke erupted all of a sudden, engulfing her. When it cleared, Ivory gasped.

…She looked exactly the same as before!

“Wow!” The other girls put their hands to their mouths. “You guessed right! Lucky!”

Ivory just stared blankly as the girls disappeared in their own puffs of smoke, leaving only the Gym Leader.

“What just happened?” Ivory asked.

“A test!” said Janine.

“Did I get an A?”

She paused. “…It’s not a school exam, just a test of wits.”

“I just pointed randomly,” said Ivory. “Doesn’t seem very witty.”

“Stop being contrary and fight me already! How many badges you got?”

“Five.”

“Ight…” Janine pulled out a Poké Ball. “Let’s go!”

Ivory and Janine threw their Poké Balls.

“Tama!”

“Crobat!”

“Shadow Ball!”

“Confuse Ray!”

Tama threw a Shadow Ball, but Crobat dodged it and sent a sinister, glowing ray at Tama.

Tama stumbled, his eyes going crossed for a moment. He blinked a few times.

“Tama, use Curse!” said Ivory.

Tama punched himself in the face. Crobat chuckled.

“Wh—Aw, crap… Tama, snap out of it!” Ivory pleaded.

“Wing Attack!” Janine commanded.

Crobat spread his wings wide and charged at Tama, striking him hard enough to knock him on his back.

Tama groaned. He uselessly shuffled back and forth, like an upturned Squirtle.

“C’mon, Tama! Shadow Ball!” said Ivory.

Tama managed to kick himself in the face with his stubby little legs. Ivory sucked in air through their tightly clenched teeth.

“Screech!”

Crobat yelled at a high, loud tone. Ivory and Janine covered their ears. Tama just yelled back, his eyes shut tight in pain.

Suddenly, his eyes opened. He stood up, focusing on the Crobat.

Ivory smiled. “Are you finally OK now, Tama? Use Shadow Ball!”

“Confuse Ray!” said Janine.

Tama chucked a Shadow Ball at Crobat, knocking him out of the air. He landed on his front and glared at Tama. He tried to send out a Confuse Ray, but Tama spun around and dodged it!

“Lick!” said Ivory.

Tama ran over to Crobat and slurped his face. Crobat squeaked and froze up in disgust.

“Oh, no! Crobat! Use Supersonic!” Janine pleaded.

Crobat was paralyzed.

“Shadow Ball~!”

Tama threw a Shadow Ball at Crobat so hard he fainted instantly. Janine recalled him.

“Next up, Weezing,” Janine sighed. “Gonna switch out?”

“Sure,” Ivory shrugged.

Tama shook his head rapidly as they brought out his Poké Ball.

“Hm? Do you not want to be returned?” they asked.

He nodded.

They shrugged again. “OK. Guess I won’t.”

Janine threw her Poké Ball. “Weezing, Sludge Bomb!”

“Shadow Ball!” commanded Ivory.

Weezing coughed a ball of sludge at Tama, who flung an energized shadowy sphere at him in return. The Shadow Ball hit the Sludge Bomb in midair, destroying it, and continued onward to slam into Weezing!

Weezing flew across the room and landed upside-down. For a moment, he stopped moving.

Tama’s grin widened. Ivory smiled a bit, too. Janine frowned.

Slowly, Weezing got up and glared at Tama. He hadn’t fainted yet!

Tama balked. “FUCK!”

“Weezing, use—Wait, did your Gengar just speak?!” Janine asked.

“Yeah, of course?” said Ivory.

“Of course? What do you mean, ‘of course’?! Gengar aren’t supposed to talk!”

“What? He told me it was normal…” Ivory looked at Tama. He blushed dark purple and glanced away from them.

Janine shook her head. “Snot.”

 “…Anyway,” she continued, “Weezing, Explosion!”

Weezing rushed next to Tama and exploded, fainting itself in the process. The room shook. Ivory looked on as Tama was thrown to the wall.

Miraculously, he survived the attack! Standing up, he groaned, “Arceus damn, that hurt…”

Janine pointed with one hand and put the other on her hip. “My next Pokémon is Weezing!”

Ivory recoiled. “Why do you have _two_ Weezings?!”

“Why not? They’re awesome!”

“Says who?”

“Me!”

“And why are _you_ an authority on the awesomeness of Weezings?”

“Because I got two of ‘em, ya dingus!”

“Guys,” Tama interrupted, “Could we get on with the battle already?”

Janine crossed her arms. “Fine, you weird talking Gengar.”

Tama frowned. “Weird?!”

“Wait, lemme heal first,” said Ivory. They took a Potion out of their bag and sprayed Tama with it. “You know, that reminds me, I really oughta get some Hyper Potions or something. These normal Potions only heal so much.”

“…Thanks,” said Tama.

“Ready?” Janine asked.

Ivory nodded. Janine threw her Poké Ball. “Let’s go, Weezing! Explo—”

“Wait, wait, wait, it’s _my_ turn!” said Ivory. “Tama, use Lick!”

Tama ran up to the Weezing and licked the bigger of his two faces. Weezing froze with his eyes wrinkled and lips pursed in disgust. He fell to the ground with a hollow clunk.

“This taste… is the taste of a liar!” said Tama.

“What?” asked Ivory.

“It’s a reference. You wouldn’t get it, Master.”

“My _name_ is Ivory, and I know a JoJo reference when I see it. I just said ‘what’ because I didn’t expect you to say that.”

Janine looked uncomfortable. “Explosion!”

Weezing tried to explode, but he was paralyzed. He couldn’t move an inch.

Ivory hummed and smiled. “Shadow Ball.”

Tama tossed a Shadow Ball at Weezing, knocking him across the room.

Weezing fainted.

“That was easy,” Ivory and Tama said simultaneously.

Janine sighed as she returned him to his Pokéball, and then pulled out her next one. “Time for… Ariados!”

She threw the ball. “Use String Shot!”

“Shadow Ball!”

Tama tried to fire another Shadow Ball, but Ariados wrapped him up in his string.

“Argh!” He fell to the ground, struggling. Ariados brought his lower eyelids up, vaguely resembling a grin.

“Giga Drain~!” said Janine.

Laughing insectily, Ariados stabbed Tama with his sharp mandibles and slurped the nutrients right out of him.

Ivory cringed. They tried to think of a move he could use while wrapped up on the floor. “Uh… Hypnosis?”

Tama stared Ariados in the eye. Both Pokémon’s eyes glowed for a split second. Ariados stiffened up, and then collapsed.

“What?!” said Janine. Ivory smirked.

Tama struggled a little bit more, rocking from side to side, until he finally split the string apart. He stood up and grinned at the sleeping Ariados.

Ivory interlocked their fingers. “Shadow Ball.”

Tama blasted Ariados across the room. He continued to sleep.

“Shadow Ball again!”

Tama used Shadow Ball once more.

“Just keep on Shadow Balling, Tama!” Ivory laughed.

As Tama sent a flurry of attacks at the helpless Ariados, Ivory thought to themself, _‘Man… I should have used Hypnosis sooner!’_

Ariados fainted.

Janine recalled him and got out her last Poké Ball. “Here we go… Venomoth! Use Supersonic!”

“Ah, shit,” Ivory sighed as Venomoth popped out and screeched at the top of his tracheal tubes. Tama fell over, immediately Confused.

“…Tama, use Shadow Ball, and I swear to Arceus if you hit yourself in the face again—” Tama kicked himself in the face. “—Mmmmmph are you fucking kidding me.”

“Double Team!” said Janine.

Venomoth vibrated back and forth rapidly until it looked like there were multiple copies of him floating around the room.

Ivory shrugged. “Lick, I guess.”

Tama did a somersault and landed on his face. Ivory laid their face in their hands.

“Psychic!”

Venomoth hit Tama with a powerful burst of psychic energy, sending him careening across the floor. He screeched. Ivory internally screeched, facepalming harder.

Tama lied down for a moment. He slowly got up, rubbing his head.

“…Confuse Ray?” Ivory said tentatively.

Tama glanced at the illusory Venomoth copies flying around. After a moment of hesitation, he focused and threw out a glowing flash of light…

…which hit Janine!

She blinked a few times, her eyes unfocused. She staggered backwards, fell onto her rear, and gazed up at the ceiling. “Woah…”

“Huh?!” said Ivory.

“Bzz?!” said Venomoth.

“Tama, what the hell?! You can’t attack a Trainer! You attack their Poké—”

Venomoth shrieked and used Psychic on Ivory, flinging them into the wall.

“AH SHIT!” They yelled. The wooden walls dented and splintered as Ivory collided with them, like a child struck by an unexpected dodgeball.

“The fuck you think you’re doin’?!” Tama yelled, charging at one of the Venomoths. He threw a Shadow Ball at it.

It hit. Venomoth shrieked one last time and fainted.

“Urgh… What happened?” Janine stood up. “I think I blacked out for a second.”

“We won the battle,” Tama immediately said, pointing at Venomoth. Ivory almost spoke up, but instead just smiled and nodded.

Janine recalled him, folded her arms, and pouted. “Hmph! I can’t believe I couldn’t faint even one of your Pokémon!”

“Git gud,” Ivory sneered.

“Well, anyway…” Janine stepped right next to Ivory and handed them a pink heart-shaped badge. “Take this Soul Badge.”

Ivory put it in their badge case. “Thanks! But wait, aren’t you supposed to give me money—”

Janine disappeared in a cloud of smoke. When it cleared, there was a piece of paper lying on the tatami floor saying, “I’M DIRT BROKE. PLS DON’T CALL THE COPS”

_‘…OK.’_ Ivory shrugged, despite knowing that it was illegal for the loser of a Pokémon battle to not give money to the victor. They didn’t really care. They had sympathy for her.

…Although, they _did_ feel a bit miffed when they suddenly remembered that Horton Jonathans from Vermilion Gym _also_ didn’t give them any money. What was his excuse? And how did Ivory not notice until now? Stupid! They facepalmed stupidly.

“Hey, Master,” said Tama. “Could I look at your badges for a sec? I’m curious to see what you’ve done.”

“My name’s _Ivory,_ ” Ivory sighed. “But sure.” They handed him their badge case.

Tama opened it up and immediately gasped in disgust.

“You already did Saffron?!”

Ivory tilted their head. “Yeah?”

“And you… You didn’t even bring me out! What the hell?!”

“I didn’t bring anyone out,” said Ivory. “She just gave me the badge.”

“WHAT?!”

Ivory shrugged. “I said I wasn’t up for fighting and she just gave me it.”

“She… she just…” Gears turned in Tama’s head. A thousand-yard stare was plastered on his face. He slowly closed the badge case.

Ivory waved their hand in front of him. “…Hello? Ground Control to Major Tama!”

“WHAT KIND OF FUCKING STANDARDS DO THEY HAVE THESE DAYS?!” he boomed all of a sudden, throwing the badge case at the floor.

 


End file.
